Rise of the Forest Dragon
by ThinMintE
Summary: Fairy Tail is ready for a normal day of adventure and fun. But things take a turn for the unexpected when a mysterious girl turns up at the guild! Who is she and why is she a wizard?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys welcome to my new fanfic. Hope you enjoy and let's begin!**

 **Edit: Just so you guys know this is pre-time skip! Just so we're all clear. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 1: Night of Mystery**

It was a normal day at the FairyTail guild. But to anyone looking in from the outside it looked like a party was going on. Guild members were messing around and teasing each other, and before you know it, fighting broke out.

"That all you got!?" Natsu yelled at his current opponent Gray. "For someone who's always freezing you're pretty easy to melt."

"You little," Gray started, infuriated by Natsu's taunt. "I'll show you! Ice Make: Lance!" The spell launched at Natsu, but he dodged it. It instead hit Erza, who was eating a piece of cake quietly by herself.. _Uh oh_ was the thought that went through the boys' heads. But that was all that they could think due to both boys feeling her wrath.

"Get over here you two!" She yelled. But Gray and Natsu ran out the door of the guild hall. Erza didn't give chase. Instead, seeing that her point got across to the two, she sat down and continued eating her cake. Lucy then sat down next to her.

"Why didn't you go after them?" She asked.

"Because it's pointless, it'll happen again and the event will repeat itself. It always happens, only thing that changes is the date," she replied.

Natsu and Gray came back about an hour later, when they thought it was safe. Soon though it was night, and everyone left for the night.

 **Midnight**

Everything was quiet in Magnolia, and no one was expecting anything to happen. What reason did they have? But something did happen. A flapping sound could be heard, if anyone was awake to hear it. The creature stopped at the guild hall, and let out a soft, gentle growl, as if it was saying something sorrowful. It let go of something in its claws, put it in the alley next to the hall, and then left the town.

 **The next morning**

Natsu arrived at the guild hall, stretching and ready for a day with his friends, Happy right behind him. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Hey Natsu, hey Happy," Lucy replied. "We were just looking at the jobs."

"Sweet. What you all thinking? Chasing bandits, defeating monsters, or" Natsu slowly trailed off and sniffed the air. "Is there a new recruit?" he asked.

"No, why would you ask that?" Erza said.

"Because I picked up a sent of someone nearby a few minutes ago, and staying put. It couldn't have been someone just walking by, I would've lost the scent by now if they were walking," he replied. Then spotting Gajeel, he went over to him. "Hey have you picked up a scent that's stuck around for the last five minutes?"

"Do you mean food, or people? Because if it's food you know the answer." Gajeel replied.

"People. I picked up a scent when I got close to the guild, and I haven't lost it yet like I would've for someone walking by."

"I picked it up too," Happy added.

"Actually, the same goes for me. And I came earlier than you."

"Who do you think it is?" Natsu asked.

"Whoever they are, they aren't hostile." Gajeel replied.

"Let's check around the hall. Just to be sure," Lucy suggested.

"Come on then, let's check this out and then get a job," Gray said, already standing at the door.

The rest of Team Natsu, along with Gajeel, went outside and started looking around. Seeing nothing out front, they turned left to see if anyone was hiding in the shadows.

"There's no one here. You guys are probably smelling fish or something," Gray said.

"Wait. What's that?" Erza asked, spotting a figure in the shadows.

"Whoever you are, you can come out. We won't hurt you," Natsu said. The figure did come closer, but only by a step. But it was close enough that they could see what the figure looked like.

It was a teenage girl, looking around the age of sixteen. She had porcelain skin and cinnamon hair almost to her waist. She was wearing a white and green shirt with long sleeves and open shoulders, and a pair of dark blue capris. She wore tan sandals with straps over her toes and wrapping around her ankles, and a silver was also wearing a white lily on the right side of her head, tucked behind her ear, and a dark green leaf pendant. Her eyes were an ocean blue, with a thin ring of hazel around the pupils.

This was not what Team Natsu was expecting. Especially that she looked well kept.

"Hey there," Erza said gently, with a friendly smile on her face. "Who are you?"

The girl said nothing. In fact, she looked terrified of the team of wizards. She slowly backed away, trying to escape. But when she turned to run, Natsu grabbed her arm.

"Hey calm down, we're friends," he said. But the girl was still trying to get away. After a few moments, she turned around sharply, spoke rapidly, and let something fall from her free hand.

"What's-" Gajeel started to ask, but never go to finish, as the object hit the ground. And when it did, a smell equal to twenty fat skunks rose up. Natsu let go of the girl in surprise and she took off.

"What in the hell?!" Gray said, trying to comprehend what she just said. "Get her!"

"No wait! Didn't you hear what she said?" Natsu asked, fanning, or trying to fan, the stench away from his nose and mouth.

"No, she spoke to quick. What did she say?" Lucy asked while trying to survive the smell.

"Forest Dragon's Stink Bomb," Gajeel said, also trying to fan away the results of the spell. "She's a Forest Dragon Slayer."

 **Well that's the first chapter. Hope you all enjoyed! Go 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Beth**

"She's a what?" Erza asked. "How is she a Forest Dragon Slayer?"

"Don't know. But if we catch her, I bet we'll find out." Gajeel said.

The group ran down the alley and around to the back of the guild hall. There they found the girl by the edge of the water, surrounded by a group of small mushrooms, around two feet tall. They had faces on them.

"Hi my name's Gray. What's your's?" he asked. The girl said nothing, so he tried again. "We won't hurt you. We just want to know what you're doing around our guild." No one expected an answer at this point, but they surprisingly got one.

"Don't get any closer. Otherwise my mushrooms will start screaming. Very loudly," she warned.

"Come on, how loud can they scream?" Natsu said stepping forwards. " I mean they're big but-" He didn't get to finish due to the mushrooms screaming staring. The team was hearing screams ten times worse than nails on a chalkboard. But the girl was seemingly unaffected.

"Ah! What is that!?" Happy asked as all of them covered their ears.

"It's the mushrooms. It's why they have faces," Erza replied.

"Natsu, get back here!" Gray yelled.

"He can't! The sound waves knocked him and Gajeel out! Remember they have heightened hearing due to being Dragon Slayers!" Erza replied. Indeed, Natsu and Gajeel were both unconscious and laying on the ground. Gray then took a fighting stance.

"If we destroy the mushrooms we stop the sound. Ice Make: Hammer!" he yelled. But before the attack could make contact, the girl yelled something.

"Forest Dragon's Solar Cannon!" The spell released a huge amount of energy at Gray and the others. Gray quickly put up a wall of ice to block the attack. It got a few major cracks, but held. The wall then disappeared as Gray released to spell. It was just in time to see the mushrooms disappear and the girl collapse.

"What was that?" Lucy asked, walking over to check on the girl.

"A move that must greatly drain the user's energy. She must not have a lot of stamina," Gray replied as he went to check on Natsu.

"I wonder where she learned that kind of magic," Erza replied, trying to wake up Gajeel.

After a minute, Natsu and Gajeel regained consciousness.

"What happened? Why is the girl unconscious?" Natsu asked as he sat up.

"The mushrooms let out screams. The girl wasn't kidding, my ears are still ringing," Gray replied. "I tried to destroy the mushrooms, but she let loose an energy beam before I could. It wiped out her energy."

"Alright then. Let's get back inside and wait for her to wake up," Gajeel replied, both him and Natsu back up on their feet. Lucy walked up to them with the girl in her arms, and the team of wizards walked back inside.

"Guys what-" Mirajane started to ask but stopped when she spotted the girl in Lucy's arms. "Did that girl cause all that trouble?"

"Yep. She used a pretty strong attack and it wiped her," Natsu answered. "We're just waiting for to wake up, but I don't think that it'll be any time soon."

"Okay then, get her into bed and I'll tell the master," Mira replied.

The team went through a door on their right and found six beds.

"Let's put her here by the window," Lucy suggested. "And let's leave the curtains open." Lucy put the girl in the bed on her left side, she found a comfortable position on her own.

"I hope she wakes up soon," Erza said as Lucy pulled the covers over the girl.

"Do you think she'll be hungry when she wakes up?" Gray asked. "What does a Forest Dragon Slayer eat to replenish their energy?"

"I'm not sure, but I'd have to take a guess on on plants, like apples or carrots," Gajeel replied.

"I believe that it was will help her when she regains conscious as well," said Makarov as he walked into the room with Mira. "Mira, can you go get a salad and an apple?"

"Sure thing. I'll be right back," she replied, leaving the room.

"Where did you bunch find her?" Makarov asked.

"We found her-" Natsu started, but was interrupted by a soft moan from the corner. The group looked at the girl and saw her starting to wake. "Or she can tell you herself."

"Naymmi, what's-" she started to ask, but stopped when she realized where she was. "Who are you? What am I doing here? Where's Naymmi? Are you enemies?" She paused before placing a hand to her head and groaning.

"Take it easy there. Now I'm Master Makarov, the master of the Fairy Tail Guild. These here are Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, and Gajeel," he answered.

"You don't have to worry. We're not going hurt you," Lucy said.

"Where'd you learn Dragon Slayer magic?" Natsu asked.

"Where's Naymmi?" the girl asked again.

"Who's Naymmi? Happy asked.

 _Can i trust them?_ the girl thought. _Probably. They did help me after I attacked them. And they don't seem mean._

"Naymmi's a Forest Dragon. My parents were kidnapped by men in long black coats and hats when I was five. Being as young as I was, they left me. So I ran before they decided to keep me for later. From what I overheard when they came for my parents, they needed younger workers for something. I didn't last long in the wild. That's when Naymmi found me. She took me in and taught me magic for the last nine years. But this morning I woke up here. And you all know the rest," the girl said.

"You're fourteen?" Natsu asked surprisingly, to which the girl nodded.

"So that's how you learned magic" Gajeel said.

"Wait, you woke up here?" Gray asked.

"Yes, I went to sleep with Naymmi, and I woke up here. I don't know how," the girl answered.

"Is she up?" Mira asked as she came back with the food. "Oh, so she is!" Mira walked up to the bed and placed the salad and fruit next to the girl. "I'm Mira. What's you name?"

"Beth," was her answer.

 **Well, we learned Beth's name and a little about her. Review replies!**

 **REiNozomi: There's no pairing in this fanfic.**

 **FeathersOfFancy: I'm glad you like the story even though you're not an expert on Fairy Tail. And be prepared for lots of bickering. The guild considers every member family and they act like one too. And I'm not putting any pairs in this fic unless they're canon.**

 **Hope you all have a great week. Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: First Job**

"That's a pretty name," Lucy said.

"Thanks," Beth replied.

"How did you recover from that attack so fast? The beam you threw at us wiped you, and it's only been about fifteen minutes," Gray asked. Beth glanced at the window.

"I'm in the sunlight," Beth started to explain. "Since I use Forest magic, the sun can heal me and restore my energy faster when it hits the lily in my hair. It acts as a focal point of sorts that absorbs the sun's rays."

"Well, would you like some food? I'm going to assume that you haven't had breakfast yet," Mira said.

"Yes, please. Do you have any fruits? Or plants of any kind?" Beth asked as Mira handed her the salad and apple she had fetched.

"Do plants restore your energy?" Natsu asked. Beth nodded, wide eyed.

"You know about that? Naymmi told me that Dragon Slayer Magic was a Lost Magic." Beth took a piece of the salad in her hand and stuck it in her mouth.

"Haven't you heard of a fork?" Mira asked smiling and handing Beth a fork.

"Sorry. I haven't seen silverware in nine years, I kinda forgot it existed," Beth said sheepishly, accepting the fork and continued eating.

"Yeah, I know 'cause I am one! I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer, raised by Igneel."

"Igneel? I know that name... Naymmi mentioned him a few times. Said he was a close friend."

"Really?" Natsu's face lit up. "Alright! Well, we'll check on you later. Let's check the job board guys!" Natsu said, running out of the room, the others following.

"What're y'all talkin' 'bout?" Beth asked in between bites of salad.

"At wizard guilds, people post jobs that they want wizards like you and I to do." Makarov started to explain as the others left the room. "These can range from collecting items to catching bandits to destroying buildings. When a job is finished, the wizard that performed the job collects the price listed with that job. It's how we make our money and support ourselves in life."

"Hm" was all Beth said as she ate her apple. Just then, a crash was heard outside, accompanied by shouting.

"Well, that's my cue. Let me know if you need anything," the master said as he left Beth thinking about what they had just discussed.

In the main part of the guild hall, Natsu and Gray we're going at it again, and everyone soon was either in a fight or picking one.

"You want to try that again?!" Gray yelled at Natsu as Natsu's attack hit where Gray was a second ago.

"Which one should we do?" Erza wondered as she looked at the job board, completely ignoring the fighting going on around her. "This one looked good," the murmured to herself as she took a flyer off to get a closer look at it. "Freeing slaves outside Rosemary Village, at 700,000 jewel. Hey guys what about, and you're all fighting.

"Everyone knock it off now!" Erza yelled as Makarov was about to. At once the fighting ceased, everyone fearing the consequences if they continued.

"Did you find one, Erza?" Lucy asked the knight as she, Natsu, Happy, and Gray walked up to her.

"Yeah, it's a breakout job. Apparently a mine opened up a ways outside Rosemary Village, and slavers are working it, so the works. It's priced at 700,000."

"Sounds good, let's get ready and head out tomorrow," Gray said.

"Alright, let's kick some but!" came from Natsu.

"Rosemary Village?" asked a voice behind the group. Turning, they found Beth standing behind them. "That's my home. When was this posted?" she asked.

"Just the other day," Erza answered. "Apparently the mine was opened years ago, but the client could only post a request now."

"Can I come with you?" Beth asked, a tiny light of hope flicking in her eyes. "My parents might be there."

The team of wizards looked at each other before Natsu said, "Why not? She seems strong enough and clearly has some tricks."

"She's not even a member of the guild. We can't take her," Gray retorted. Having one person motion sick on a train was bad enough, two would be way worse.

"That actually doesn't matter," Erza said. "Jobs don't have to be from the same guild, they just have to be done."

"It's settled then. She can come, and we'll see if her family is there," Natsu said.

"You can stay at my place tonight," Lucy offered as Beth opened her mouth to ask that question. She smiled at Lucy.

"Thank you," she said. With that, the mages decided to give Beth a tour of the guild, and plan for tomorrow.

 **Well Beth is taking on a job request with Team Natsu. Onto Review Replies:**

 **FeathersOfFancy: I agree. And things often get a little too touchy for my taste. I expect it at this point as well, but I don't always follow "the rules." Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Warmachine375: No, they are not related. And I have no idea which direction the guild hall faces, so I'm saying the back of the hall was in the shadows so she couldn't restore her energy and used it all. She was in the shadows for most of the morning, so she used magic energy instead of solar energy like she was supposed to. But you gave me a really good idea for the story. Thank you for that! And didn't Lucy explain some of her heart's desire to Natsu in the first episode? And she thought he was a total dork(I'm sorry is I'm coming off as rude to you) and they have a wood-make mage in Fairy Tale? Thank you for adding that, that can come in HUGE as the story progresses. Thank you for your review** _ **so much**_ **!**

 **Hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day! Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Peppermint and Gingery Train Ride**

The next morning, the Fairy Tail team met at the train station. The train had just unloaded all it's passengers and was preparing to leave.

"I hate trains," Natsu mumbled to himself as they boarded.

"Agreed," Beth mumbled back, surprising Natsu.

"Have you been on one before?"

"Yes, with my parents. I guess I've always had a touch of motion sickness, as I didn't like my parents picking me up and swinging me, and it only got worse as I learned Dragon Slayer magic."

Their conversation ended when the group took seats, Erza, Lucy, and Gray taking one seat and Beth, Natsu, and Happy taking the other.

After about five minutes of chatting and sitting, the train started moving. As soon as it started, Natsu and Beth started to get motion sick.

"Why'd we have to take a train?" Natsu asked, feeling, sounding, and looking terrible. He was squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to endure the ride.

Beth on the other hand, had laid down on her back, and was staring at the light on the ceiling. She was also nibbling leaves of some sort, and was trying to not look as sick as she felt. "Because it's either this or walk, and this is way faster unfortunately," she replied shakily.

"Beth, what are you doing?" Happy asked.

"It helps with the motion sickness," Beth said, not taking her eyes off the ceiling.

"What are you doing?" Natsu asked, his eyes still shut.

"One open your eyes, I learned the hard way that it worsens it. Two," she said producing two leaves like the ones in her mouth from her right hand, "eat these, but not fast. The aroma helps and so does chewing something."

Natsu opened his eyes, accepted the leaves, and copied Beth's position. When he was settled, he started nibbling the leaves as well. "Is this mint? And ginger?" he asked.

"Peppermint and ginger."

"Where'd you learn that?" Happy asked.

"Naymmi taught it to me. I got really motion sick one time during training and she taught me different ways to get over it quickly. This way works best for me," Beth said.

"Sounds like Naymmi knew a lot about motion sickness," Erza said.

"Yep. A lot more than you would think," Beth replied.

"I guess it works for Natsu," Gray said. Natsu had managed to relax enough and fell asleep.

"Peppermint and ginger. I guess we'll need some then," Lucy said, thinking that this could help Natsu, or other Dragon Slayers that they met, a lot.

"I'm not surprised he fell asleep. I often do too when I'm in this position," Beth said, starting to feel herself drifting off as well. After a few minutes, she too was napping.

The rest of the train ride was Erza, Gray, Lucy, and Happy chatting quietly about this and that and the two Dragon Slayers dozing through the ride.

The team arrived at their stop in the late afternoon. When they stopped, Lucy, Happy, and Erza woke Beth and Natsu while Gray went to find the client of their job. When the five stepped off the train, they could see Gray talking to a middle aged man with slightly tan skin and mahogany hair wearing a black v-neck shirt and black pants. He had on black tennis shoes as well and looked relieved to see a wizard who took up the job. They walked up to the duo, and when the man saw them he looked even more relieved.

"Thank goodness you're all here," he said. His voice was young but also strong. "My name is Simon. And you all are?"

"I'm Erza, these here are Natsu, Lucy, Happy and Beth," each one waving or nodding when they were introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Simon said. "Come into my house, we can discuss the details of the job there." Simon started to walk off and the team of Mages followed. A few minutes later they arrived at a ranch style house with two windows out front, one on either side of the door. The house and door were both a light brown color with blooming pink rosemary bushes under each window.

Simon opened the door and led the mages inside. "I'm sorry, but I only have two spare rooms in my house. They're both next to each other, down the hall," he said pointing down the white hall in front of them. "The doorway on your right is the kitchen. I'll be waiting there to discuss the job details." Simon then went into the kitchen while the Fairy Tail wizards went down the hall. They decided on the girls getting the first bedroom while the boys got the second.

"This is cozy," Lucy complimented on the room as they walked in. It was white like the hall and had two twin sized beds, one in the top right corner and one in the bottom left. There were also a closet on across from the first bed and a window opposite the door.

The boys had a similar room, the only difference was that the window was on the right wall.

After they checked out the rooms and worked out sleeping arrangements, the mages walked into the kitchen and found Simon sitting at a small, hexagonal, wood table placed under a central window. Upon seeing them enter, he gestured to the seats around the table. After everyone was seated, they started talking about the job in more detail.

"So who are the people who run this mine?" Erza asked putting her folding her hands together and resting them on the table.

"I'm not sure what their name is exactly, they never mentioned it around is as we worked. But I do know that their leader is a man named is a man named Mako," Simon said.

"How big a mine are we talking?" Natsu asked.

"They work the people with little to no food, rest, and water. I'd say as big a mine can get under those conditions and started around nine years ago." At this, Beth straightened even more from her already good posture and sucked in a sharp breath.

"What do these people look like?" she asked, hardly daring to hope.

"I can't help you if you're talking about facial features," Simon started, "but they all wear long black coats and hats."

 **Well, seems like Beth's getting a blast from the past in this job. Review Replies!**

 **Warmachine375: The reason for the solar energy is probably that plants gain energy do to it, so, like trees, she excels in it. And she only gets stronger with plants, and she can't eat soil or ice. And I recently found out about the time skip, so it's pre. And I have a list of spells for Beth, but some of your's aren't on it, so thank you again for the ideas.**

 **Hope you're all doing well. Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Hope and Dying Dreams**

 **Hey guys, so my phone glitched with underlining and now random lines are on the page whenever I view the document. They don't mean anything, just ignore them. Now onto the story!**

"I can't believe it," Beth mumbles to herself. "Those are the people that kidnapped my parents nine years ago!" Her eyes glimmered with a faint hope. "I might see the again."

"What are you talking about?" Simon asked.

"Beth's from here, but her parents were taken nine years ago," Happy explained. "Her description matches yours on the people that did it." Simon looked surprised at the words.

"Well, now you can get back at them for what they did to you," Natsu said smiling at Beth. She looked at him alarmed.

"I don't want to hurt them," she said. "I do want them to be behind bars, what they're doing is very wrong, but I mainly want to see my parents again. I don't care where that's at, I just want them next to me." She then turned back to Simon. "Do they throw out any bodies?"

"Yes, many have died. But some disappear. I don't know their fate," Simon answered.

"That's good enough for me. They may have escaped."

"Well I suppose we should get some rest," Erza said looking at the window. Lucy turned towards it as well.

"I didn't realize how late it was," she said upon seeing the night sky.

"Alright then, I'll see you in the morning," Simon said. He then rose and left the room. The others followed suit, and entered their rooms.

"Do you think they're alive?" Beth asked as she plopped on the leaves on the floor she summoned.

"I hope so," Lucy answered, laying down on her bed. Erza didn't respond.

In the other room, the boys were having their own conversation.

"How strong do you think that the enemy wizards are?" Natsu asked as he sat on his bed.

"Depends on if they train a lot. If they don't, this'll be a pushover," Gray replied.

"I doubt Mako is weak though," Happy said. Gray and Natsu hummed in agreement.

"Well I'm not going to stay up chatting," Gray said, climbing into bed. "I suggest you do the same." Natsu laid down in response. Soon both rooms were quiet other than the sounds of snores.

The group was ready by mid morning the next day.

"Okay there's the entrance, but no guards," Erza said as they stood behind a rock about five meters from the entrance.

"Lets just go," Beth said excitedly as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Natsu took that as a cue to walk up and check it out.

"All clear," he said and waved the others over. They walked in as silently as they could, but didn't hear anything other than their own footsteps.

"I don't hear anything," Happy said. But right as he said it, the mages heard a shout from the tunnel on their right.

"Sounds like we found them," Gray said.

"Me and Beth will go deeper," Erza said coming up with a plan. "You four free the slaves down that tunnel." They followed without another word.

Erza and Beth didn't have to go much further when they heard another voice. Erza motioned for Beth to stop so they could listen.

"Lord Mako, we just lost two more, but have made excellent progress. We almost have enough for the last shipment."

"Good," another voice, presumably Mako, answered. "Dispose of the bodies and continue."

"Yes, my lord" said the first voice. The duo heard a pair of footsteps disappear down another tunnel.

Erza started moving towards where the voices were and Beth followed. They came upon a barren stone room with a man standing in the middle of the room with his back to them. Unfortunately he turned and, having no place to hide, spotted the Dragon Slayer and S-class wizard. Erza then requipped a sword and charged.

—

Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Happy traveled for a few minutes before they came upon a work area full of slaves digging with pickaxes and slavers supervising. Natsu didn't even make a plan with the others.

"Hey!" Everybody turned to look at him. "Let these people go or you'll be sorry."

The slavers laughed at this. As they did, Gray and Lucy stepped up beside Natsu while Happy was ready to lead people out while the others were fighting. Gray decided to make the first move. He took a stance, and yelled "Ice Make:Lance!" The attack hit the slavers and they went down

"Come on people! Follow me!" Happy yelled while the slavers were down. People dropped what they were doing and followed the exceed out of the mines. A few slavers got up and drew weapons, but Natsu quickly destroyed that plan with a Fire Dragon Roar attack. The slavers fled down another tunnel. Lucy tapped a slave on the shoulder and asked, "Are there more of you?"

"No, we're all they have," he responded. Lucy nodded and thanked him.

Just then an explosion went off.

—

Mako quickly dodged Ezra's attack. He then drew a sword from a scabbard on his left side, and charged at Erza. She raised her sword to block, but Mako wasn't in front of her anymore. He appeared behind her and swung his sword, but Erza rolled out of the way.

"He's using Teleportation Magic!" Beth yelled. She hadn't made a move, allowing her to figure out his style. Unfortunately, her yell drew Mako's attention.

When he disappeared from her sight, Beth ran forwards. Mako appeared behind her and she just missed getting hit. She stopped by Erza and turned around. The two mages went back to back, Erza with her sword at the ready and Beth scanning the area around her. Having no idea where Mako teleported to, she placed both hands flat on the ground and mumbled something.

"Erza, don't move," she said as cracks appeared in the floor around the two mages. Erza glanced at Beth, but followed her instructions. Mako then dropped from above the mages and tried to use the sword and a katana he somehow got to do a spin attack. But Beth heard him before that happened and grabbed his arm. Erza turned around and blocked with her sword as Mako landed. Erza then swept his legs out from under him, and Beth used this as an opportunity to push him forward and onto the cracks outside of their tiny circle.

"Forest Dragon's Gigas Cedar!" Beth said hurriedly, predicting what would happen next. Just as the wood dome closed around the two mages, an explosion went off right next to them where Mako landed. The explosion blasted him to another part of the room where more explosions went off. This continued until all the explosives Beth planted went off. It only lasted about a minute.

When the wood dome around Beth and Erza sunk back into the ground, they were greeted by a room riddled with holes and an unconscious Mako by the door. Beth looked mildly surprised, while Erza looked at the Dragon Slayer with surprise and awe.

"What did you do?" She asked Beth.

Beth kept looking at the damage and replied, "Firecracker Pepper Vines. It's exactly what it sounds like. I used them as land mines here, but I can also use them above ground like explosive whips."

Just then, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Happy rushed in. They stopped when they saw the room.

"What happened here?" Natsu asked.

"Beth planted pepper land mines and ended the fight," Erza replied.

"They all blew up, so we're not in danger of getting blown up. Did you guys free all the slaves?" Beth asked, starting to get excited.

"Yeah, there was only about twenty," Gray said.

"Mako did say that they were almost done. I guess they didn't find it necessary to replace lost slaves," Erza said. She turned to Beth. "Let's go see if your parents are here." With that, Beth ran out with a smile on her face, the others racing to catch up. Erza went and slung Mako over her shoulder before racing after the others.

They caught up only at the entrance when Beth stopped. She was looking around the people and clutching her pendant.

"Do you see them?" Lucy asked.

"No." She was starting to get worried. She walked up to some slaves that were chatting and tapped one on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, but have you seen a man with red hair and pale skin with hazel eyes with a woman with black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes?"

The slaves glanced at each other before they looked at Beth.

"I do remember a couple like that," the first slave said slowly. "They cared for the other slaves more than anything else." Natsu, Erza, Gray, Lucy, and Happy walked up behind Beth as her face fell.

"They disappeared one night around six months ago. We're pretty sure they died and their bodies were disposed of before any of us noticed."

"We're sorry," a third one said.

Beth stood there motionless. Tears welled up in her eyes. "No" she said as she looked at the ground. Natsu placed a hand on her shoulder as Lucy hugged her. She didn't notice either action. Gray reached over to comfort her, but she turned and ran before he could.

"Beth!" He yelled as she fled deeper into the forest, sobbing and shaking.

 **Review Replies:**

 **Warmachine375: I have no idea what you're talking about, for half the characters, the last arc I have access to the the Dragon Slayer one, sorry. And I don't have mangas. But the internet is my friend and was very helpful, so: there is a part where she trains later, but she has her own way and this is unique to Forest Dragon Slayers. Also, I have no idea how long I want this story to last, so I'm not sure if it'll go to post time skip. It might if there's enough support. And if she runs into other Dragon Slayers, I'm sure she'll help. And this is Beth's POV, so she doesn't know what the others are thinking.**

 **Well that's it. Hope you're all good. Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Things Just Get Better**

"Should we go after her?" Grays asked.

"She needs to be alone, but we should make sure she doesn't get herself hurt," Erza said.

"Natsu, Happy, and I will keep an eye on her. You two should get the people back to town and take care of him," Lucy said pointing to Mako.

"Alright then," Erza said, she and Gray leading the former slaves to the village, while Natsu, Lucy, and Happy went to check on Beth as quietly as possible.

—

Beth finally collapsed after sprinting for a few kilometers. After laying there gasping for a few minutes, she realized that she didn't know where she was but she didn't care. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked around. She was still in the forest, and she could hear a creek up ahead. She stood up, albeit shakily, and found the creek at the foot of the hill she was on.

Beth made her way down, and drank from the creek, the water feeling heavenly in her dry mouth and throat. When she was done, she just sat there and thought about her time with her parents and what the former slaves said. She just sat there until the sun hit the water at the just the right angle to reflect into her eyes directly. She then sighed laid back on the bank. She picked up some grass and started eating it. She continued to lay there and eventually fell asleep.

—

"How far do you think she went?" Lucy asked as they looked around.

"Who knows. She clearly is a fast runner and we don't know how much endurance she has," Natsu responded.

"I'll fly ahead and see if I can find her," Happy said as he sped off. Natsu and Lucy walked for a few minutes in silence, each listening for Beth. But they didn't hear anything. Soon, Happy came back with no sighting of Beth. "But I did see a creek and some campfire circles up ahead. She might be there."

After about a half hour, they came across one of the circles.

"Which direction do they head in?" Natsu asked.

"Towards the city."

After another half hour, the trio heard the creek. Walking as quietly as possible, they peered down the hill they were on. At the bottom, they saw Beth on the bank curled up in a ball, asleep.

"At least she's alright," Natsu said. A cool wind blew from behind the trio on the hill and woke Beth. They laid on the hill as she sat up so they wouldn't be seen as easily. But the wind had other ideas.

"You know I can smell you guys, right?" Beth asked in a monotone voice.

Natsu got up and walked down the hill and sat next to her, Lucy and Happy following suit.

"I'm sorry, Beth," Happy said before settling on her shoulder and nuzzling into her head. She leaned into the touch gently.

"They sound like good people," Natsu said.

"Maybe they made a mistake and they escaped without setting off any alarms," Lucy offered.

"They never saw them die, Beth," Happy said. "They only theorized." Beth thought for a moment and smiled, grabbing hold of the small hope her friends offered her.

"The odds of that happening instead are favorable. My parents are smart people, and observant. I'm sure they escaped."

Beth stood up with a smile on her face. "I'm sorry for worrying you guys."

"Nah, it's fine. You probably needed some time," Natsu said standing as well.

"We should get back," Lucy said, seeing the shadows growing longer, and guessing the sun was starting to set. With that, the group headed back to the village.

—

The group arrived at dusk to find Erza and Gray wondering the village. Upon seeing them, the two walked up to greet them.

"How are you feeling?" Gray asked Beth.

"Better."

"Okay then. Simon's got some food waiting for you if you're up to it," Erza said with smiling herself. With that, the wizards went to Simon's to retire for the night.

—

"Hey Beth, can I have some of those leaves that we used the first time?" Natsu asked as they boarded the train.

"I was about to give you some," Beth said with a small smile as they took their seats. She handed the leaves to Natsu. When the train started to move, both Dragon Slayers took their positions and started nibbling their leaves. Soon they both fell asleep again.

Lucy looked at Beth as they traveled, lost in thought.

"What're you thinking about?" Happy asked Lucy as Erza and Gray has their own conversation.

"Hm. Oh, nothing," Lucy said. "It just seems that Beth is having a hard time. The other day she wakes up not knowing who anyone around her is or where she is, and then two days later she finds out her parents are gone and she has no idea where they are, and she missed the last nine years of her life with them. But she's handling it fairly well. Do you think she's dealt with stuff like this before?"

"I doubt it," Happy responded. "She ran when she was five and was in a forest for the rest of her life. Other than her reason for running, I don't think she's had anything this scale happen to her."

"She really deals with stress well naturally then," Lucy said. Just then the train roles to a stop.

"What's going on? We're not at a station," Erza said standing. Gray woke up Beth and Natsu.

"Maybe hijackers. Nothing we can't handle," Natsu said confidently digging his fist into his palm.

With that in mind, the wizards went to the door to check out the other cars. But before they could, the door opened to reveal the conductor of the train.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing technical difficulties. Please remain in your seat for the time being," he said shakily. He was also visibly trembling. And the Fairy Tail wizards didn't look like they believed him.

"It's bandits, isn't it?" Beth asked calmly. The conductor went pale, and sprinted past them, screaming.

Erza took the lead then. "Everyone, please remain calm. We will take care of this," she announced. Everyone looked worried, but followed her instructions. The team continued into the other car, towards the engine. And they didn't believe what they saw.

 **So who has any ideas what they saw? Let me know in the comments. Hope you all have a good week. Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Servants**

The mages looked into the other car to see men in long gray coats and hats tying passengers' hands behind their backs and then tying them together in pairs. They were then seated on the floor.

"Who are you?" Gray yelled, getting the men's attention. They turned and sneered at the team.

"We're the Servants, but despite our name, we control others," the one closest to the wizards said. "Now you going to let us tie you up and take you too, like good slaves."

"How about no," Natsu said. He then went on the offensive. "Fire Dragon Iron Punch!" The attack hit the man square in the chest and sent him flying into three others. The rest of the Servants drew guns or swords, but Beth and Gray were too quick for them to land any hits.

"Ice Make: Hammer!" Gray yelled and sent the hammer into the remaining Servants, knocking them into one group.

"Amber Shot!" Beth said as she put her hands out in front of her. A big blob of tree sap shot at the slavers and encased them, leaving only their heads exposed. However, they could still move and stood up. The others took a fighting stance, but Beth didn't even flinch. Just then, the sap hardened and froze the Servants in their tracks. They looked down in confusion and defeat.

"These guys look like the guys we fought at the mines," Happy said.

"Crap. It's those guys," one of the Servants whispered to the others as Natsu left without the others noticing.

"Wait, you know us?" Erza asked as the mages started to untie people. The Servants didn't answer, but looked at them with fear, deadpanned, and shock.

"Word in our group travels fast," one answered. Just then the train started moving again. Luckily, Beth just finished untying the person she was behind and was able to pop some peppermint and ginger leaves in her mouth. But she still lurched when the train swayed.

"Where's Natsu?" Gray asked looking around. Everyone then noticed he was gone. Beth rolled her eyes and walked to the door. But the train rocked and she nearly fell over, and put a fist to her mouth. Erza walked over to her and picked her up, and took her to their seat. Lucy, Happy, and Gray walked towards the engine and found the head of the train. They also saw Natsu hunched over by the brake lever.

"Natsu what were you thinking?" Gray asked walking over to his friend.

"That we get this train ride over with," he said as he put his weight on Gray. Lucy came over and helped Natsu and Gray along. When they got to their seat, Beth was laying on the seat opposite Erza and Erza was staring out the window. They got Natsu next to Beth and she gave him some leaves. Soon the group was chatting away and Beth was dozing, and Natsu followed her half an hour later.

—

The team arrived at the guild hall after another hour. They stopped just outside the hall.

"So, what are you planning to do know?" Erza asked Beth.

She hesitated for a moment. "Are your jobs always like this? Going to different places and defeating people doing wrong?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, that's what life is at the guild. Why are you asking?" Gray said.

Her face settled into a determined look. "I want to join Fairy Tail. If I can be stronger and go to different places, I have a chance to find my family." They smiled and walked inside.

"Hey Mira!" Happy said when they saw their friend. She looked up and smiled at them.

"Welcome back! Did you guys have any luck?" She greeted.

"We didn't find them. But they aren't confirmed dead, either. Just missing," Beth said. "I also want to join Fairy Tail. That's okay, right?"

"Of course," Mira said smiling. "Where would you like your stamp?" she asked as she brought it out. Beth put her right hand palm down on the table. Mira applied the stamp, and a forest green Fairy Tail mark was left behind.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail," Natsu said, smiling brightly and giving Beth a pat in the back.

"Thank you very much!" Beth said. She admired the stamp and smiled. She paused for a second and looked at Mira. "Are there any forests around here?"

"There is one out of town a little. Why?" Mira responded.

"So I can train." With that, she left the hall to see the surrounding woods.

—

 _One hour later_

"Wow. I'd never thought I'd see one of these," Beth said as she walked up to a tall tree with red bark and tiny, needle like leaves pointing the same direction as the needles next to it, making it soft. She reached out and touched the tree. She closed her eyes as a rush of energy went through her. "A giant sequoia. Soil must be good around here," She mused. "An endangered species of tree that is the last of it's genius, Sequoiadendron, and one of the only three redwood trees species left." She opened her eyes and took her hand off the tree. "At least I can grow more now, and keep them from going extinct." She rapped her knuckles on the tree and a cone fell. It was similar to a pine cone, but bigger, rounder, and had smooth sides. She stuck it in her pocket.

Beth stood back from the tree and grew a wall of gigas cedar wood. "Forest Dragon's Leaf Sword!" As she said the spell, two leaves sprung from her wrists, covering the back of the hands. She dashed at the wood wall she made and tried to attack it. Swinging the weapon, she managed a slice in the wall, splinters flying off and a tiny hole in the inch thick wood. She smiled at her work. "That's a lot more power than I had before." She then decided to try to destroy the wood wall.

"Forest Dragon's Pineapple Grenade!" A pineapple grew in Beth's hand and she threw it at her target. Upon impact, the pineapple exploded, the pieces layering the field with the barbs. The wall also exploded. "Awesome. That sequoia gave some real power magically and physically." She then walked off to see if she could find another new tree, but she heard shouts before she got far, and the voice sounded familiar.

 **Beth is now a Fairy and seems to like her surroundings. What do you all think? Have a good weekend! Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Family Reunion**

Beth followed the voice, a little put out that her training got interrupted, but too curious to care much. She came to a dock on the tree line that opened to the ocean. She could see the town in the distance. Hiding behind the trees, she spied on the people at the dock.

"Hurry up you lousy specimen," a guy in a long black coat and hat said, his face blank and tone bland as he oversaw a group of slaves that were loading large crates onto a large boat, about 20 meters (21.8 yards) long, 15 meters (16.4 yards) wide, and 3 meters (3.3 yards) tall. There were no windows and the boat seemed to be powered by magic energy. It was made out of metal, and had a door on the side with a plank running to the dock. The slaves were clearly tired, and the man supervising them just stood and stared. Beth looked for a better spot to observe the situation, and climbed the tree she was hiding behind. Traveling through the branches as silent as the wind, she stopped perched close to the trunk of another tree. Touching the tree with her hands, another rush of power went through her. She closed her eyes and opened them a second later, excited to see what this tree did to help her and continue training.

"We leave in a half hour. The crates must be on before then," the man said again as he turned so that Beth could see his face. She stifled a gasp, covering her mouth with her hand. The face before her was pale with short brown hair and green eyes. He had a medium sized nose and a round face, and wore a band of something around his head, made out of what looked like a kind of metal, but Beth couldn't figure out what kind. The band had a black gem in the center shaped like a hexagon. But she recognized the face.

"Uncle Ken," she breathed. _I didn't know he was alive. Or captured,_ Beth thought. _I doubt he's part of this willingly. The band must be the key._ She waited as the sun set for him to turn his back, but he never did. Eventually, she had to make a move as they were about to leave.

"Forest Dragon's Reaching Vine," she breathed as a vine grew from her hands, one lifting the hat and the other grabbing the band. Her uncle didn't feel it immediately, and only realized what was happening after she had both in her hands. She jumped down from the branch she was on and walked towards her uncle. The slaves by the door to the ship watched her. Her uncle blinked and looked around. His face settled in disbelief when he saw her.

"Beth," he breathed. "Is that really you?"

She smiled and ran the rest of the distance, dropping the hat and band, and the two shared a tight embrace, reunited after the attack nine years ago. "It's really me," she said quietly. They stayed like that for another few minutes, both reluctant to let go. Beth turned to the slaves. "You're all free now. If you all like, I can lead you to town and you all can return home." She waited as the slaves came out of the boat, all beaming and some were crying, for they had been enslaved for a very long time, longer than Beth's uncle. "I have one more thing to take care of before we go back," she announced. "Everyone, please move to the tree line and stay clear of the boat." The freed slaves followed her instructions.

"Beth what are you doing?" Ken asked as Beth got into a relaxed but ready stance.

"Getting rid of the ship," she said nonchalantly. "Forest Dragon's Pumpkin Canon!" A pumpkin formed in her hands and she launched it. It zoomed forward with the sound of a dragon's roar and struck the boat, sending it out into deeper water and sinking it. She looked pleased with her work as her uncle stared at her.

"We have a lot to catch up on." With that, Beth and Ken went back to the group of slaves, and lead them to town.

—

"So you ran away from Servant slavers, met a Forest dragon, learned Dragon Slayer Magic, and joined a guild?" Ken asked as he and Beth strolled through the woods. They had led the freed slaves to town, Beth ran to the guild to check the job board, but found nothing of interest (The others did ask what the roaring was, but Beth said she'd tell them later) while her uncle bought a newspaper to check up on the latest news that he missed. During that time Beth had also told Ken her story of what happened to her the last nine years. It had taken an hour.

"That's it in a nutshell. I found two new trees, but I only tested out the sequoia. Not the other one. Which reminds me, do you have any magic?" She looked at her uncle, an inquiring look on her face. He smiled at her, reading her thoughts.

"I only have Sleep Magic. They made me learn it when I was captured. I can help you practice dodging attacks, but that's about all I can do." He smiled at Beth apologetically.

"I don't mind that practice. I'm sure it'll come in handy sometime. Give me all you've got." She took a stance and waited for her uncle to make a move. Her smiled and made a fist with his hand. He took a swipe at Beth, who dodged it easily. "Is it alright if I-"

"Go ahead. That's what this is for." Ken uncurled his fist and blew over it, sending a shower of sparkling dust at Beth. She stepped out of the way nonchalantly, the dust didn't move that fast. She dashed at Ken.

"Forest Dragon's Leaf Swords!" She skirted another bit of dust. But when she got in too close, Ken sprayed the dust around him in a circle, and Beth got caught in it. She dropped to the ground, her blades disappearing. Ken walked over to her as a beam of sunlight hit her flower. Cracking her eyes open slightly, she knocked her uncle's feet out from under him and caught him. She laughed, releasing him.

"How did that wear off so quickly?" he asked as Beth helped him up.

"The sun. Forest Dragon Slayer," she said pointing to her flower. Ken's face lit up in realization.

"You did tell me about that." He looked at the sky, now turning pink and orange as the sun set. "Well how about some food? And maybe camp?"

"There are these fruit trees nearby," she said as she led her uncle to the grove, euphoria staying with her the entire night.

 **Hey she has family with her! Not everyone she ever knew before joining Fairy Tail is dead! (Now that I think about it, that's a recurring theme in fanfics and canon characters. Huh) Have a good weekend everyone! Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Home**

"I'm home," Beth shouted as she came in the front door. She but down the bag she was carrying and closed the door. She smelled sugar and plants from the kitchen, and could hear her uncle working in there. And a small explosion.

"I'm in the kitchen!" Ken yelled.

Beth walked in. "Again? When will you learn?" It has been a week since they got reunited, and they now rented an apartment near the guild. Ken started learning Celestial Magic from Lucy when she had the time, and Beth was doing jobs around Magnolia. She looked around the room and saw the batter on the walls and ceiling, and the plants she grew in pots in the window. She also saw that lettuce, carrot pieces, and strawberries were everywhere on the counters and table. She smiled and pulled her uncle, who was wearing a formally white apron now rainbow with food stains that wouldn't come out after washing it at least a hundred times, away from the stove.

"Why were you making salad on the stove with it on?" she asked when she felt the heat.

"It's not the stove, it's the oven," he said as pointed at it. Beth looked inside and found a half done cake in the oven, it's top looking like it was about to burst.

"What did you do?" she asked as she grabbed a toothpick and poked a hole in the top of the cake, deflating it slowly but surely.

"I wanted to surprise you with dinner and dessert, " he replied as Beth swept the greens off the counters and table into a strainer, "but the food wouldn't let me cook it. The greens especially didn't like me."

"I'd say the cake hates you more," she said as she ran the greens under the tap to wash them.

Ken looked around the room. "Yeah, it took me three batches to get enough batter for the cake into the pan. The rest decided to be free of me and live on the walls."

Beth chuckled and shook her head before setting the greens into a bowl after drying them off, and grabbed some paper towels. Handing some to her uncle and running her own under the tap, and started cleaning up the batter from her plants and the ceiling, using her magic to help her reach. Her uncle did the same for the lower walls and counter and table tops. They took a half hour to get the batter cleaned up, and then set the table for the two of them. Beth also took the cake out of the oven, this time it looked normal and smelled even better. She set it on the stove to cool. After an hour, they sat down to dinner, and Beth ate most of the salad.

Ken chuckled. "Tough job?"

"No, I just had to do a lot of running around. This guy was slippery, but I finally cornered him in an old warehouse on the edge of town. Took all day and I skipped lunch.

He wasn't much of a fight though."

Ken nodded. "Well, let's hope this streak keeps up. Maybe we can have a house instead of renting soon."

"If we don't, I can make a treehouse."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," he said chuckling. "So you ready to frost that cake?" Beth stood as an answer and got a jar of chocolate frosting and some sprinkles. They frosted the cake, and Ken added sprinkles as Beth ate the remaining frosting from her spreader. She somehow got it on her nose and didn't realize it. "You got something there," he said, gesturing to her nose. Beth looked at her nose and tried to lick it, failing miserably. Ken chuckled as she used her finger to get the frosting, humming in triumph as she ate it.

—

"Morning, Beth," Mira said as Beth walked into the guild hall. Beth nodded her head in acknowledgment and went over to talk to Natsu, who was currently in front of the job board with Happy.

"Hey Natsu," Beth said. "What ya looking at?"

"Nothing in particular. What about this one Happy?" Natsu took a flier from the board and showed it to the exceed.

"Looks good. We can handle it on our own?"

"There's a key in the reward, so maybe get Lucy." Natsu looked thoughtful for a second. "Hey Beth," he said turning to the other wizard, "was Naymmi acting strange for the last seven years you were with her?"

Beth thought for a second. "Not normally. Some nights, she would practice her magic when she thought I was asleep. When she stopped for the night, I would hear her sigh and talk to herself. Mostly it was plans for the next day or a new spell she would teach me, but a few times it was 'I'm lucky,' 'I never knew we were different, but it saved us,' or 'don't fret, the time is soon.' And she would stare at the moon. I'm not sure what it meant. But now that she left, I know something's up. Maybe those phrases mean something." Beth looked at Natsu. "Any ideas?"

"None. But if I hear any dragon related activity, I'll let you know."

"Thanks." She turned back to the job board. _Maybe this one._ She reached for a flier. Natsu looked over her shoulder at it.

"Tracking a thief down. Why are you only doing jobs in Magnolia?"

"You need to travel," Happy said.

"My uncle isn't the best cook, and we're still working some things out. I need to make sure he'll be okay if I leave."

"Best cook as in?"

"The kitchen looks like you went overboard except with food and not fire."

Natsu laughed. "That bad, huh? Yeah, makes sense. See ya, Beth," he said walking away with Happy to find Lucy. Beth took the flier and was about to exit the guild hall when she heard a crash behind her. Then "how dare you touch my cake!" reached her ears. Gray and Natsu ran passed her and she ran with them, even though she didn't do anything.

"Why are you running?" Gary asked her as they ran from Erza's wrath.

"So I don't get trampled by you two and to also say race you."

"Where to?" Natsu asked.

"Anywhere."

"You're on!" they said.

 **Hey they have a house now! And exploding cake batter. What else can ya want in life? Hope you're having a good week. Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Mountain Campout**

 _One month later_

"Get back here!" Beth yelled at a rose vulcan that she was fighting. She sprinted after it. _Came up here for a job, to find a lost cartographer. Vulcans come out instead._ She arrived at a plateau surrounded by boulders. "I lost it," she said. She turned around and stopped. The Vulcan was standing in the way of the path she came up. Then it roared "Food!" The biggest one yelled. It was easily twice the size of Beth.

 _I guess this is what happened to that cartographer._ "Alright. Guess I can't go around, so I have to go through." The vulcans charged Beth, who just jumped into the air. "Forest Dragon's Pineapple Grenade!" She threw the pineapple at the pack. It exploded in their faces and covered the ground in sharp barbs. Beth landed in a crouched position. The vulcans tried to rush her, but they didn't watch where they stepped. The bards lodged into their feet, and they howled in pain. Beth used the opportunity to use her Reaching Vine to slam them into the ground, causing a dust cloud and loud thuds. _Maybe too hard. Hope I didn't hurt anybody._ When the dust cloud cleared, she saw people laying on the ground moaning. She walked over.

A man looked up at her. "Who are you?"

Beth smiles. "A Fairy Tail wizard. Are you able to walk?"

"Just lay here. Not much else we can do." The other people around him nodded.

"Okay then. I can set up camp and we can rest here tonight. And head to town tomorrow. Is that okay with everyone?" She raised her voice to make sure everyone could hear her. They all nodded.

Beth walked around the plateau, growing plants and tents for the camp. She added bioluminescent flowers as lights for when the sun set. By the time she finished, it was late afternoon, and the plateau looked like the camp was always there. She used Gigas Cedar to build everything, and added ivy and vines with the flowers on the tents she made. She also made low tables for everyone to sit at outside. Looking at the sun, Beth headed out to find some food for everyone, and water. The latter didn't take long, as she heard the stream. She kept searching for food, making sure the river was in earshot. She thought she found a grapevine, but it was actually a Pokeberry bush. In the end, she grew oily leaves to being the water back with her, and grew fruit trees and vines in the center of the camp. She also made a well like area to store the water in with the leaves. Beth placed it by the fruit.

"Wow, it's sunset already." Beth looked at the orange sky and pink clouds. She sighed, wishing her parents were there or with Ken, and hoping they were okay. _They would love this view._

She put the thought aside, and checked on the campers. Many were still tired, but everyone was recovering with the food and water. Beth tripped over her feet. _I must've used more energy than I thought._ She reached up one of the trees and picked an apple, munching on it as she checked on everyone. Some had fallen asleep, and Beth moved them inside the tents. The flowers colored the camp in pale purple light, gently illustrating the night that had set in. Those who were still awake thanked Beth and turned in for the night. Beth yawned and snapped her fingers, causing the flowers to close. She stepped out in front of one and it opened again, closing when she moved to the side again. She stood in the dark and looked at the sky. She turned to head into the tent, but she tripped and couldn't catch herself.

—

"Ugh. Dirt is not the most pleasant thing I've had in my mouth," Beth said as she woke up. She pushed her hair out of her face and looked around. The sun was just rising, and no one else was up.

She got to her feet and picked some berries that she started munching on. About an hour later, people started waking up and eating the fruit Beth grew. Beth looked at the water storage and, seeing as it was low, went to the stream to fill it up. When she got back, she was met with shouting. She deposited the water and went to see what the commotion was. What she found surprised her. Men in black coats and hats.

"What are you doing here?" Beth asked. The shouting stopped as everyone turned to her.

"Trying to get through here. But these people wouldn't let us through," one said.

"Liar!" someone shouted. "They wanted us to come with them. And were going to use force too!"

Beth raised an eyebrow at the Servants. They gave in.

"Fine. Yes that's the truth. That's doesn't change what we're going to do though. Unless you want to try to stop us, that is," another one sneered.

"Gladly." A Servant tried to grab Beth, but she simply turned, stuck her foot out, and hit the guy in the back. The move sent him falling to the ground. Another guy tried coming up behind her, but she was way ahead. "Forest Dragon's Shrieking Mushrooms!" Beth summoned the fungi, and instantly they started screaming, Beth and the campers only hearing the one fourth volume, while the Servants ran away from the mushrooms, hands covering their ears.

Beth recalled the mushrooms. "We need to go," she said, turning to the people behind her. "They may come back. Is everyone ready?" They nodded. "Let's go then." Beth turned and lead the campers down the mountain, subconsciously removing the camp.

—

"You're welcome. Stay safe," Beth waved to the last of the campers as they went their own ways to their homes. Beth went into the house that posted the job with the cartographer in tow. "Hello?" She said as she entered.

The owner turned and smiled. "I see you completed the task. Excellent work," he said as he handed Beth some Jewel and a key that also had been in the reward. "Thanks again he said as Beth left the house. _Uncle Ken's going to love this_ she thought as she made her way to the train station. _But there's been no activity from that group this month. I hope this isn't the start of anything._

But what Beth's wish was being denied that day.

"Did you get it?"

The cartographer pulled out some maps from his bag. "All right here sir. Plus a few bonuses. Where traps are and hidden entrances too."

"Perfect." The man turned to face the window in the room. "Soon we will have complete control over those beasts. And then, the world will be ours." He turned back to the cartographer. "Send out a team right away." The cartographer bowed and left. "Soon, no one can stop us."

 **Well things are amping up, and we're getting somewhere. Sorry if this seems a little rushed, had a lot of tests. Hope y'all have a good weekend. Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Beach Day**

"Hey Lucy," Beth said as she was asked towards her friend. Lucy turned around and smiled.

"Hi Beth. Looking for another job?"

Beth sat at the table with Team Natsu. "Nope. Got enough Jewel to pay for rent for two months. I think it's time I took a break and hung out with you guys for the day."

"Awesome! We just figured the same thing!" Natsu said excitedly. Gray nodded in agreement. Erza came over as well with some strawberry cake.

"So what should we do?" she asked as she started eating her sweet.

"It's pretty warm out. How about a beach day?" The group nodded in agreement with Lucy's idea.

"Meet at the train in one hour?" Beth suggested.

"Agreed. Let's go!" With that, Natsu and Happy ran out of the guild hall. Lucy, Gray, Erza, and Beth laughed.

"Never stop, do they?"

"Nope," Gray replied.

Beth and Lucy both stood up. "I better go then. Later," Beth said as she took off as well. Lucy walked out beside her.

When Beth started walking in the direction of the store and not her apartment, Lucy asked "Do you have a bathing suit?"

"No, but I can buy one."

"I'll come with you!" Beth didn't object. The duo walked to the store and found the swim section. Lucy immediately started picking out different colors and styles of suits while Beth just browsed, thinking about what she would like. She wasn't that picky. She found a forest grew one piece with an open back she liked. It looked like a racing suit. Just then Lucy appeared next to her and handed her about ten different suits she found. They headed to the fitting rooms. Beth tried the ones Lucy picked, but they weren't really her style. She also showcased each one for Lucy as well, and she agreed. They both decided that the one Beth found was the best. So after Beth purchased the suit, the duo split. Beth headed to her apartment, where she was greeted with Ken standing in the kitchen yelling.

"What are you doing?" Beth asked as she walked up to him. He turned to face her.

"Trying to summon a spirit. So far, I'm not doing anything right." He looked at the silver key in his hand. "What was the phrase again?"

"I call upon thee, in the world of the celestial spirits. I beckon thee to my side at once. Pass through the gate," she said as she went to her room to change into her suit.

Ken held out the key and repeated the phrase. "Open gate of the swan! Deneb!" A bright light shone around Ken as the spirit appeared. He looked like a human with pale skin and black hair that went slightly past his shoulders. He had on a purple shirt and black dress pants. He also had large, black feathers running down his arms like wings. Beth came out of her room with a bag and walked to the closet. She grabbed some towels and a wrap skirt that was also green. She put it on. Walking back into the kitchen, she noticed the spirit standing next to her uncle.

"Nice job."

"Thanks." He turned to the spirit. "So how about making a contract? What days are you free?" Beth didn't hear the rest of the conversation as she slipped on her sandals and left to head to the train.

Arriving at the station, she saw Erza and Gray chatting. Both were ready for the beach.

"Hey guys," Beth said walking up to them.

"Hey Beth," Gray greeted the Forest Dragon Slayer. "Have you seen Lucy or Natsu and Happy? Train's going to leave soon."

"Lucy should be here soon, I have no idea about the other two."

Right on cue, Lucy joined them. They chatted for another five minutes before Natsu and Happy came running up to them. They boarded the train and in the next few minutes they were on their way. Beth made sure to hand Natsu some ginger and peppermint. Half an hour later, they arrived at the beach.

"Come on!" Lucy said as they went down to the surf.

"I haven't been to a beach in a long time. Actually, the surf seems familiar, but I can't remember it at all. Weird," Beth said more to herself than anyone.

"Maybe you've been here before when you were younger?" Erza suggested.

Beth shrugged. Stopping near the tide, they set up blankets and soon they were building sand castles and racing through the water.

"Race you to that rock and back," Beth said to Natsu pointing at a rock a good distance away from the shore.

"You're on!" The two took off towards the rock, and Erza watched them amused while Gray, Happy, and Lucy repaired a sand castle Natsu somewhat crushed.

Beth made it to the rock about ten seconds before Natsu, and started back to the shore. A ripple appeared in the water, along with a shadow. At this point, Natsu was just starting to come back to the shore, when he stopped swimming and kicked around. Beth heard him and, turning, saw him get dragged under the water. She dove after him. Looking around, Beth saw Natsu getting dragged down, but by nothing. She swam over and grabbed his hand, trying to pull him up. The effort was in vain. She wasn't being pulled down, but something strong was pulling the pink-ette down. She eventually used her Reaching Vine and pulled them both up to the surface, gasping for breath. Gray and Erza grabbed them and pulled them to the shore, Happy flying alongside them.

"Are you guys okay?" Gray asked.

"Yeah, *cough* just fine." Natsu coughed some more before he finished. Happy landed and thumped him gently on the back.

"What happened?" Erza asked.

"Not sure. *cough* I wasn't caught in anything *cough* and I couldn't see *cough* anything." Beth also coughed for a little bit before anyone spoke again.

"Not undertow then, or an animal." Erza looked at the sun that was setting over the water. "It's getting late. Let's head back," to which none of them objected. They packed up and headed to the train, but missed a shadow leaping out of the water behind them.

 **Hey guys, sorry I didn't update last week, I got knocked down by a bad cold. But I'm good now and back to writing. Hope you guys are having a good (and healthy) week. And Happy Easter Everyone! Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	12. Can't We Have a Normal Train Ride?

**Chapter 12: Can We Have a Normal Train Ride for Once?**

"That was eventful," Beth said as they boarded the train home. They took their seats and a few minutes later were on their way back to the guild. But before they really got anywhere, the train shuttered to a stop. Beth took the leaves she was about to put into her mouth onto her necklace and they grew into the chain, mounting them in place. The mages were about to stand up until the train suddenly went flying off the track, towards the beach.

"Ow," Natsu groaned when they landed.

"What was that?" Happy asked.

"Nothing good," Erza replied.

"Can we have a normal train ride for once?" Beth groaned, thinking about all the trouble trains were without motion sickness.

The mages got up and looked out the window, which was now above them. The other passengers also got up and stared at them with inquiring expressions and fear from the younger ones. Just then the train was moving again, but this time sliding. Everyone fell from the sudden movement. They heard a splash and water started rushing into the train car.

"Close the windows!" Lucy said as she worked on the one nearest to her. Thankfully, there was only a few windows open and they were closed before all the air ran out.

"I don't suppose you have any water-breathing plants, do you?" Gray asked Beth, knowing aquatic plants existed.

Beth thought for a moment before she grew strings of algae and gave them to her friends. Beth then opened a window and grew algae over it to keep the water out. _Practicing in the river with Naymmi is really paying off._ Beth thought as she put the lily over her nose and mouth and climbed through the algae. The other mages followed her.

The first thing they noticed was that the train was still moving and they had to grab onto the side to stay with the train. The mages swam/climbed to the other cars and saw that they had also closed all their windows, though some cars were filled with more water than others. Once they made it to the engine, the they were bewildered by the fact that the train was being pulled by a seemingly invisible force. The second thing was that the engineer was holding onto the train for dear life and was running out of air. Happy and Natsu grabbed him and started pulling him towards the front car. Beth repeated what she did to their car and helped him inside.

"Thank you," he said gasping for air.

Beth was about to leave when a hand tapped her wrist. She turned and there was a boy standing there. He had spiky dark blue hair, tan skin, and ocean blue eyes. He was wearing a navy blue tee and jeans with slip on shoes of the same color.

"Yes?" she said.

"Can I help you?" he asked. "I'm skilled in water magic and you're a mage so maybe," he trailed off. Beth regarded him for a second and smiled.

"Sure. What's your name?"

"Siprix." Beth handed him some algae. "No thanks, I don't need one." He enforced this by climbing out the window. Beth pulled up her algae and followed. True to his word, he was breathing just fine without a plant.

The rest of Team Natsu glanced at Beth when she came out after Siprix, but she put up a hand saying that it was fine. Turning back to the boy in blue, her eyes widened as she saw Siprix swimming without holding onto the train, and now had fins protruding off of his shoes to help him swim. Natsu tapped Beth on the shoulder and, turning, she laughed. He was looking at her like _why does he get all the cool stuff?_ Beth smiled and grew some leaves supported by oak sticks that she put on her feet and had them grow around her ankles like flippers. She pushed off of the train and swam next to the pink-ette, looking at him with an expression that said _is this what you want?_ The glare she got in return made her laugh. She repeated the flippers with Natsu, and then the others who were smiling and trying to stifle their laughter from the exchange between the two. Beth grabbed hold of the train again as Siprix swam up next to her.

"Take off your algae. I've got you covered," he said. His words sounded a bit distorted underwater, but they were still understandable.

She cautiously took it off of her face and, finding she could breath, used it to tie her hair back.

"The others? Out of plain curiosity," to which the water mage replied with a thumbs up. The others saw and also removed their plants from their faces.

"Is it me or is the pressure getting higher?" Gray asked. He was right, the water pressure was starting to get higher and crush the mages.

"It's getting darker too," Lucy noted.

"How far down are we? And when are we stopping?" Erza asked. No one had an answer.

They just kept moving. Siprix eventually grabbed hold of the train to rest as well. After some time, Beth made her way to the front of the train.

"What are you doing?" Siprix asked, swimming up next to her. She just looked at him.

"Stay behind me. Forest Dragon's Leaf Swords!" The blade-like leaves sprung from her wrists and she pushed off the front of the train, slashing down with one arm. To everyone's surprise, she hit something. A shriek ripped through the water and the train came to a halt.

Everyone stayed frozen for a full minute before the mages started to move. Beth didn't retract her blades. They started to try to move the train back up to the surface, Siprix doing most of the work with his water magic. They almost made it to the surface when another shriek emanated through the water, but the team, plus Siprix, couldn't see anything. Everyone got into a battle stance, Beth making a sword like the ones on her wrists for Natsu due to his fire not being able to work underwater.

They heard another shriek, this one much closer than the last. Then a current of water swept passed them, scattering them. Natsu swing his sword left to right, trying to hit something. Suddenly, something hit everyone into a pile far from the train. Said train was hit hard, sending it onto the shore they were so close to. _At least the people are safe._ She winced as the sound of the train hitting ground reached her. _Okay, that had hurt._ But they weren't out of trouble yet. The mages were trying to untangle themselves, albeit failing to. They were also hit with something hard, that sent them down into the ocean.

This act scattered them again, and Beth used her vines to keep everyone together. But the force grabbed them and started pulling them down into the ocean. The force of the pull snapped them all together at once. Everyone hit their heads hard enough to be heard as if they were hitting them on concrete, except Siprix hit Beth's shoulder. The last thing Beth saw before blacking out was Siprix frantically yelling to her and the quick slash of something slicing through the water.

 **Hey I keep forgetting to add this, but we're in the double digits! Woo hoo! Hope you're all having a good week and have fun over the weekend! Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	13. Chapter 13 Ocean Floor

**Chapter 13: Ocean Floor**

"Ugh," Beth groaned as she woke up. Opening her eyes, she jerked when she saw she was still underwater. The previous events came back to her and she relaxed and stood up/floated up.

Looking around she noticed the others were still out, but shifting around suggesting that they would wake up soon. Then Beth noticed where she was. It was a temple, sea green in color with pillars supporting the roof and other levels. It looked like a Greek castle. It was very dark, but Beth could see well enough. Fish of all colors, shapes, and sizes swam in between the levels and pillars, while coral, seaweed, kelp, and other aquatic plants grew in between the cracks. She also saw Siprix sitting on the ledge a little ways away from the Fairy Tail mages. She swam over to him.

"Hey," she said. The water mage turned to look at her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. Beth sat down next to him.

"Head hurts from where I hit it on someone else's, but other than that I'm fine," she replied. "How long was I out?"

"About a few hours." Siprix stifled a yawn. But it didn't escape Beth's notice.

"You've kept your spell on all of us this entire time," she said more of a statement than a question. He nodded. "Thanks," she said with a smile. They heard groans from behind them turned to see the other waking up. They swam over.

"You guys okay?" Siprix asked.

"Ahh!" Natsu yelled, seeing he was underwater. Then a small "oh" escaped his mouth as he remembered and calmed down.

"We're fine," Erza said.

"Where are we?" Gray asked.

"A temple of some sorts," Lucy said.

"Look at all the fish!" Happy said excitedly. Beth grabbed him before he started chasing some and got even more lost.

"All I know is that we shot down here really fast by some force, and landed at this temple. On the ocean floor," Siprix said. Beth swam over to some plants, and touched one. She shivered, and repeated the process with many other plants. The others looked at her in confusion.

"Well these are all algae, just different species. But the grass is actually seagrass," she said swimming back over to the others. "What I don't understand is how it all grows because they need a lot of light, but it's dark. Oh wait, it's night time, due to the sun setting when we were dragged under the water in the train and then how long we were out." She muttered the last part to herself and finally noticed the odd looks they were giving her. "What?"

"What were you doing with the plants?" Erza asked. They all found it strange that Beth touched a plant and suddenly had all this information on it.

"Oh, that's my magic. As a Forest Dragon Slayer, I have to touch plants to get stronger physically and magically as well as train normally. And I know about the plant then. It's my way of training," she replied. "Either way, how about we get back up to the surface." She started swimming out of the temple.

"Wait Beth-" Siprix didn't get to finish his sentence as Beth was suddenly shot back to them. She crashed into the water mage. "I was going to tell you that we're trapped here. Some sort of water current."

"So how do we get out then?" Gray asked.

"We can go through the temple. Maybe something inside can help us," Lucy said.

"Well that's our only way forward," Gray said.

"Alright!" Natsu said as he swam right into the closest hallway. Everyone else followed him.

The inside was as full of life and colors as the outside. Fish darted past the mages, and some brushed against them. They had to constantly keep Happy from eating all the fish, or at least trying to so they wouldn't get separated. Every door they reached lead to a room that served as nesting grounds or homes to the fish, in many cases both. Siprix even found some turtles nesting in some turtle grass, and others came and went. After about fifteen minutes, they reached an intersection.

"So do we stick together, or do we split up?" Happy asked.

"We split up. It'll go faster that way," Erza said. "Lucy and Gray can go straight, Beth and, what was your name?"

"Siprix."

"You and Beth go right, and Natsu and I'll go left. We all clear on that?" The others nodded and went down their respective halls.

It was a calm swim for everyone. Nothing major happened, only a few surprises from hiding fish. About another fifteen minutes, Siprix started to push off of walls and pillars to keep moving.

"You okay?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, just getting tired. Been at this for a while, you know?" Beth nodded, and swam slower to stay with him.

"If you need help, I can," she said.

"I'm okay for now," Siprix said. Beth looked unconvinced, but let it slide for the time being. A turtle swam under them, tickling Beth with its flipper. She giggled, causing Siprix to smile. The water mage reached into his jeans pocket and he hit a button. He slipped out his hand and continued swimming and pushing off. Beth continued to gaze at the aquatic life around them, always touching a new plant or trying to get close to a fish before it darted away. She turned and spotted a dolphin that was coming towards them. She reached out and the sleek creature nuzzled her palm. Beth gasped, and ran her hand along the dolphin, as it also checked her out. Then a roar sounded through the water. The dolphin instantly darted away and Beth dropped her awe of the aquatic paradise.

"What was that?" she asked. Siprix shrugged and frowned.

The duo swam forward and reached a large room that was three stories high and had multiple hallways connecting to it. The rest of the mages also entered, Erza and Natsu from the middle level across from Beth and Siprix and Lucy and Gray from the top left side. They met in the middle of the room, just as another roar sounded through the room. They formed a circle, backs facing each other. They could hear something shooting through the water at high speeds, but couldn't see anything. Then it stopped, and they finally saw what they were up against.

 **Anyone want to take a guess? Totally fine if not. Hope you all have a great weekend. Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	14. Chapter 14 Water Battle

**Chapter 14: Water Battle**

A roar sounded throughout the water as the group just stared.

"I don't believe it," Beth muttered.

"How? This isn't possible," Natsu gasped.

"You two have to take it," Erza said snapping out of her surprise first. "Our magic is useless against it."

"My flames are useless underwater," Natsu said.

"Here," Beth said as she grew some explosive peppers. She handed them to her friends. "These will work. Just don't drop them."

"You'll also have to throw them harder and closer than you normally would since we're underwater. It's a lot more dense than air," Siprix advised. They all turned to the water dragon in front of them.

The dragon attacked first, going for Siprix. The blue-ette tossed a poorly aimed pepper towards the dragon. It hit its shoulder, and it backed off. "Forest Dragon Roar!" Beth yelled as she performed the attack, hitting dead on. The dragon got blown back to the edge of the room, Beth having gathered a lot of power from the various plants she had touched. It zipped around and attacked Siprix and Beth from behind. It left the others alone. This turned out to be a mistake as a pepper hit its head, thrown by Natsu. Happy cheered. The dragon shook its head and aimed for the others. Siprix used a water current and turned it off course, crashing it into the wall. Lucy and Gray also threw a pepper each, hitting the back leg and wing. It shrieked in pain, and Erza threw one into its mouth. The creature coughed and swam away, but it knocked some pillars down. The building started to shake and cracked started to appear.

"I wouldn't hit those again," Lucy said nervously.

Happy just went "Aye!" They regrouped in the center and waited. After a minute, the dragon attacked from above. Siprix used his magic to divert the attack away from them, and it smashed into the ground. The building lost a few chunks of rock, the pieces falling to the edge of the room. The mages glanced at the walls warily, and dodged another attack. The dragon swiftly turned, grabbed Siprix, and swam off with him.

"That dragon is really intent on getting him," Gray said.

"Come on!" Beth said as the Fairy Tail mages swam after it. However, they didn't see where it went and lost it.

"Great. First we get dragged underwater in a train, get knocked out, wake up here, we're trusting a guy we don't even know to keep us from drowning, and then-" Natsu didn't get to finish his sentence as group couldn't breath. They grabbed their algae, that they thankfully didn't lose, and put it on. Out of that spot, the fire mage glared like he was saying "what did I say?"

Beth swam down to a sand pile and started writing with her finger in it, as they couldn't talk with the lily pads on. _Maybe he got knocked out_ she wrote as the others came up to her.

 _He was traveling fast in a dragon's mouth_ Erza wrote.

 _Any ideas how to find him_ Lucy asked. No one wrote anything back. Beth smoothed over the sand as she heard something.

 _Did you hear that_ Natsu wrote. Beth nodded.

 _What_ Gray asked, the other also looking confused. They stopped and listened hard. Beth heard a faint current. And a tail hitting stone. She and Natsu took off in the direction of the sound and the others followed. They followed the sound until they were on a balcony and they couldn't go any further due to the water wall keeping them there. And there was the dragon, looking at an unconscious and not breathing Siprix.

Beth looked back at the group, and Natsu raised a pepper he still had. Erza nodded and Natsu hit the dragon right in the back. Turning towards them, the dragon roared and unleashed a blast of water at them, using its magic. The group scattered, Beth going towards Siprix while the others kept the dragon occupied. She grew some algae and placed it over his nose and mouth. He started breathing again, the plant making oxygen. Making sure he was out of harm's way, she turned back to the fight. Natsu was out of peppers and playing bait, Happy clinging to his scarf, the others only had one or two left each. She rushed back, and gave them more peppers. Natsu threw all of his at the dragon that almost caught him, and Beth sighed and handed him a war hammer made out of pine wood so it wouldn't weigh him down as much. He proceeded to play whack a mole with the dragon when it got close, the others using their ammunition sparingly. Beth used her Forest Vine Constrictor and slashed at the dragon, causing it to cry out in pain. The others hit the dragon with their peppers, while Natsu bashed it. Finally, after a lot of hits, Beth used her roar attack one finally time and the dragon took off, beaten. The group stayed still for five minutes before they finally relaxed a tiny bit. They went over to check on Siprix.

The water mage stirred when Beth shook him slightly. He opened his eyes and looked around, taking in the mages surrounding him, where they were, and what they were doing. He then realized that they had on the algae and his eyes widened.

"I'm so sorry!" he said, taking off his algae. However, he looked dizzy and had trouble breathing with his magic. Gray put the plant back on over Siprix's face as Natsu glared at him, daring him to try that again but concern also flashing in his eyes.

Erza swam up to the where the water wall was, and tested it out. It was still there, albeit much weaker. They all groaned as best they could with plants on their faces. Lucy found another sand dune and they started writing in in.

 _What now_ she asked.

 _We need to let Siprix rest and find how to get out of here soon_ Erza said.

 _How much longer do you think we can last_ Gray asked.

 _A day at least_ Siprix wrote.

 _I can probably get us some food, along with plants that store a lot of water_ Beth suggested.

 _Aye_ Happy replied.

The others motioned to Beth to lead the way. Her eyes widened slightly, but she nodded and found a small room with one entrance that no animals were using. Beth grew algae over the entrance, and Siprix used his magic to turn the water into air, basically evaporating it instantly. Beth glared at him as he swayed.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, taking off her algae. She caught him before he fell. The others got up from where they fell on the ground, not expecting the sudden change from water to air, and helped steady him before he toppled Beth over as well.

"We can't wear plants and eat at the same time, can we?" he said teasingly, before collapsing.

"Used up too much energy," Happy said from Natsu's shoulder. They laid him down, took off their plant flippers, and Beth grew watermelons, apples, strawberries, carrots, and other foods the others requested. Soon they had a small paradise going.

Beth yawned, Lucy took notice of this. "You should sleep too. You were the one that supplied us with everything during the fight, and fought a lot yourself." Beth shook her head before she yawned again. She repeated the first action, trying to stay awake. It didn't work to well as her eyes started closing on their own. Lucy came over and laid the forest mage down, as she wouldn't do it herself. Beth finally complied and was out the moment she closed her eyes.

 **Dragons. How many of you guys guessed that? Let me know in the reviews. Have a great weekend! Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	15. Chap 15 Fire's Heat and Arctic's Chill

**Chapter 15: Fire's Heat and Arctic's Chill**

Beth woke up to snores. Looking around sleepily, she noticed the others were asleep as well. The second thing she noticed was that Siprix was curled against her back, and the indent in the sand from his original spot. He mumbled in his sleep.

Beth tried to shift away a bit, but the water mage scooted over too. Hearing his slow breathing, she guessed he was still asleep. She rolled over so that she was facing him. This time he didn't move.

 _Might as well try to get back to sleep_ she thought. She snuggled into the sand, and closed her eyes. A minute later she heard a noise other than snores. _Well there goes that._ Looking up, she saw Erza rousing. Beth sat up.

"Hey," Erza said when she noticed Beth was up. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like a log," Beth replied. "You?"

"I've slept in weirder places." They sat in silence for a bit and Beth pick up a watermelon before slicing it up with a knife made from her razor leaves. She handed one to Erza, who took it and they started eating. After a few minutes, Natsu and Happy also woke up and took some watermelon slices.

"So what do you think we should do now?" Natsu asked.

"Find some way to get out of here," Erza said. Lucy shifted and woke up. The blonde also accepted a slice from Beth she was offered.

"Do you have any spirits that could help us with this Lucy?" Happy asked.

Lucy thought for a minute. "Well, there's Aquarius, but knowing her she'd just keep us here or send us further from land than we already are. I guess Virgo could help, but I'm not sure how well sand would hold up in a tunnel."

"I could support it," Beth said.

"That could work, but I'll be the one who supports it. You've done enough" Gray said, sitting up. He too took some watermelon. "What about him?" he gestured towards Siprix, who was still curled up asleep.

"Wake him up," Happy said.

"He needs to rest," Erza said. "If he doesn't wake up soon, then we take him with us regardless. It wouldn't be fair to him to leave him behind."

"Or to get up sooner than he should," Lucy said.

"Do we have anymore peppers?" Natsu asked. Beth tossed him one that was next to her.

"So how long do we wait?" Gray asked.

"Until Natsu stops eating all the peppers," Happy said.

"They're good and hot!" Natsu said in self defense.

Beth smiles slyly. "I have something hotter than that," she offered. Natsu held out his hand.

Beth grew a decent sized pepper with bright red coloration and was shaped slightly like a fire. She handed it to the fire mage, who took a big bite. His eyes shot wide open.

"Whoa! This has some kick!" he said. Beth couldn't believe her eyes.

"How are you? What?" She paused to get her thought together. "How are you able to withstand that?"

"I don't know," he replied taking another bite. "What's the point?"

"That's a Hell's Pepper," Beth started to explain. "It's the hottest plant out there. Forest Dragon Slayers use it as a psychological punishment for its spiciness is so hot that it convinces the person it's used on that they're walking through the hottest fire out there."

"What can't your magic do?" Lucy asked.

"A lot," Beth replied. "We've Just been in the right situations."

"Anything cold?" Gray asked. Beth eyed him, unsure, but grew and gave him a light blue colored berry.

"Wow. This is colder than ice!" he said. "It's even making me feel chills."

"Nilfheim Berry. The opposition to the Hell's Pepper," Beth said.

"What's the commotion?" Siprix said sleepily, rolling over to face the others without getting up.

"Just trying extremely flavorful foods while waiting for you to get up," Erza said.

"I'll try them," Siprix said, not having heard Beth's explications. She grew tiny versions and gave the pepper to Siprix first.

"Be careful," she said. "You're going to regret this." Siprix popped the fiery food into his mouth.

And he recoiled. "What the heck?!" He screamed then. Beth shoved the berry into his hand, and he ate It quickly. His body relaxed and Siprix fell onto the floor. "I'm never doing that again."

"You never have to," Beth said.

"Was that how you were expecting me to react?" Natsu asked. Beth nodded.

"Talk about a wake up call," Happy said.

Beth wood up and bent over the shocked water mage. "Think you're ready to go?"

"Ye-yeah, just give me a minute," he said shakily. He stood up after a minute, and nearly fell down again.

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked.

"Not anymore."

"Well we should try to get out of here fast. Get your things and let's go," Erza said. The others nodded. They put on their flippers and algae, Siprix grabbing one on too when he got dizzy trying to use his magic. Then Lucy summoned Virgo.

"What are your wishes madam?" the purple haired spirit asked.

"Can you dig us a tunnel out from under here?" Lucy asked. "There is water on the outside, so you know."

"Of course," Virgo said with a bow. She started spinning like a super fast top and started burrowing into the ground. She popped back out a minute later soaking wet. "The way is clear madam."

"Thanks Virgo," Lucy said before closing the gate. They put on their lily pads and jumped in.

The tunnel held up even without Beth's plants. It was pitch black, the only way they knew they reached water was the splashes of the others. They swam for a bit, Beth making sure Siprix didn't fall behind, before the tunnel lightened and they reached the exit. The grinned excitedly at each other, and went for the surface. It took them a while from the ocean floor, but they eventually made it.

"Yes!" Beth cheered when they broke the surface.

"We did it!" Lucy shouted.

"The sun's setting!? Natsu and Happy yelled.

"No, it's nearly risen," Erza corrected them.

"Now which way is shore?" Gray asked. They stopped cheering and looked around.

"There," Siprix said looking at the horizon. The others turned and saw the back of the guild hall off in the distance.

"The guild!" they shouted.

They took off towards home.

 **Hey they finally made it out! Wonder what the next adventure will be, huh? Well we'll find out soon enough. Have a good weekend everyone. Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	16. Chapter 16 Welcome Home Fairies

**Chapter 16 : Welcome Home Fairies**

"Come on!" Natsu said as he started racing back to the guild hall, sending up spray of water as he went. The other followed eagerly, Siprix being helped by Beth as best as she was able to manage. They kept this up until Erza noticed Siprix and Beth were behind them a fair ways. Yelling to the others, she backtracked and got on Siprix's other side, putting his arm over her shoulder and hers over his.

"If you needed help, you could've just said so," she said as the others also came back.

"We could've managed," Siprix said, struggling to stay awake. The others quickly took note of this and picked up their pace a bit.

"Clearly not. You two were lagging behind and you're exhausted. You wouldn't have lasted much longer," Gray deadpanned.

"We all won't if we don't hurry," Beth said as she glanced at the sun, which was already high in the sky. They kept going without another word, too focused on swimming to the shore and making sure Siprix didn't slip under the water.

-XxXxX-

The guild hall was only slightly closer after an hour of swimming.

"Ugh, how far out are we?" Natsu groaned.

"I would have to say we started at almost five kilometers," Erza said. "That's how far away the horizon is at ground level unobstructed. With how fast we're traveling, I'd say we still have about two and a half to three left in between us and the guild now" Natsu groaned again.

"We aren't going that fast," Lucy commented, Beth nodding in agreement.

"Hey Siprix how you doing?" Gray asked, the blue-ette being the only one who hadn't talked at that point. He didn't get a response.

"Siprix?" Natsu asked as they turned to him. Beth poked the back of his neck, but didn't get a response. She frowned.

"He's out cold."

"He was pretty exhausted."

"And he didn't get to recover a lot before we started moving again," Erza said curtly, before looking back at the guildhall and judging the distance. She squinted as she thought she spotted something. Requipping a sword, Erza used it to catch the light and reflect it towards the guildhall. A minute later, there was a flashing back. Everyone cheered as they saw it.

"Who do you think it was?" Lucy asked.

"It came from the second floor, so it was either Mira, Mystogan, Gildarts, or Master Makarov," Gray listed. They stopped talking as they felt the water shifting below them. It exploded up into a wave as Gray was tackled.

"Gray-sama! You're okay! I was _so worried_!" Juvia shouted as she clung to the ice wizard, who was struggling to stay up in the water with his fangirl clinging to him like he would disappear if she let go.

Which he would.

"Thanks for caring about the rest of us," Lucy grumbled to herself as the others rightened themselves in the water. Siprix was looking around dazed, being awoken when he, Beth, and Erza were separated in the burst and thrown underwater. He clung to Beth instinctively.

"Hey Juvia!" Natsu greeted. The water mage turned to the others, not letting Gray go.

"Hello Natsu-san! Erza-san! Happy-san! Beth-san! Lucy-san! And- who's this?" she asked, finally letting go of Gray to get a better look at Siprix, who was half asleep on Beth's shoulder. The Forest mage just glanced at him, concerned.

"This is Siprix," Beth said. "We met him on the train." Juvia looked at him for a second longer.

"Well, he's certainly exhausted, that's for sure. What did you guys do?"

"Long story," Happy replied.

"Well, you'll have plenty of time, cause we're getting you guys back to land right now!" Juvia finished this last part by throwing her hands up. A huge wave rose behind her, sweeping the group up and all the way to the back of the guildhall. They landed in a sprawled heap. By the time they got untangled and standing, Mira and Cana were already outside with towels in their arms.

"What happened to you guys?"

"Are you alright?" Mira and Cana pestered them with questions while handing them towels to dry off with. They paused only to glance at Siprix before Mira ran inside to get another towel.

"Who's he?" Cana asked when Mira returned.

"This is Siprix. He helped us while we were in the ocean. He used up basically all his energy and hasn't recovered yet," Beth explained, wrapping the towel around said water mage with help from Lucy. Mira nodded as Erza, who was now dried off and requipped into her Heart Kreuz Armor, picked up the unconscious water mage and threw him over her shoulder with ease.

The group headed inside, only to be bombarded with questions and welcomes alike from everyone. Makarov eventually got the crowd to back off, and led them to the medbay on the side of the hall. Erza placed Siprix on one of the beds, while the others left for their respective homes. Beth stayed though, looking at the water mage with concern.

"You should head home, Beth. You're uncle's probably worried about you," Makarov said to the teen, walking over to her side. She sighed.

"I know," she started. "But I just want to make sure he's going to be okay. He did a lot for us when that dragon kidnapped us." Makarov hummed and smiled softly.

"He only exhausted himself and needs rest. But I will have someone come get you if something happens." Makarov turned and left. But not before Beth said thanks and headed home, tired but excited to see her uncle. She giggled as she thought of the state the apartment would be in. _I hope it isn't rainbow like the apron,_ she thought.

 **So, um, hey guys. I JUST REALIZED THAT I HAD THE WRONG CHAPTER UP I AM SO SO SO SORRY! I thought it was the right one, cause no one said anything, but I found out as I was going through and fixing mistakes in the story. And then I had deleted the original document for the chapter so just wrote this all in one night so I'm sorry if this is trash, but at least it's Fairy Tail related and not from one of my other stories. I am so sorry I didn't notice sooner. But hey here it is now. So have a good week, and go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	17. Chapter 17 Home is Crazy Too

**Chapter 17: Home is Crazy Too**

 **Hey guys! Sorry for the late update. So it has come to my attention that some of you think that this is a post- time skip story. It is actually pre- time skip. This is because I had no knowledge that there was a time skip at the time this story was started. Yell at me all you want for not knowing, I blame the fact the I only have access the arcs through the Dragon Slayer arc. If you guys have any suggestions on where to watch the rest of the episodes, I will gladly take them. So I'm going to clear this up: this is a pre- time skip story. With that cleared up, onto the story!**

"Hey Uncle Ken. I'm back," Beth said as she walked into their apartment. She ducked as a spoon nearly hit her head. "Whoa! What's going on?"

"Not my fault!" her uncle exclaimed. "This spirit doesn't listen to me at all!" Another spoon clattered to the floor as Beth walked into the kitchen to see what was going on. The deneb spirit her uncle had summoned just before she had left for the beach was throwing silverware everywhere and impaling the walls and furniture.

"So are you going to tell him to stop?"

"I have and it's not working!"

"So he's going to throw spoons around forever?"

"Yes, keep going! Keep throwing spoons!" Ken yelled exasperated. Then the spirit stopped.

"I can't believe that worked," Beth said.

"I guess he does the opposite of what I tell him to do then," Ken replied, relieved. "Anyway, you said you were going to the beach! You were gone for days!"

"Had a run in with a dragon. Specifically, a water one."

"You yourself said that there weren't any other dragons left, Beth."

"Then where did Natsu learn Dragon Slayer Magic?" Ken couldn't answer that. "Exactly. Though, I only knew of only three dragons still alive." Beth shrugged. "Guess there are more out there."

"Either way, welcome home." Ken hugged Beth, who returned it. She looked around the kitchen.

"How is there not food on the wall?" she asked, breaking the embrace.

"I didn't cook anything. I tried the first night you were gone and nearly set a baking sheet on fire. Or rather, the oil on it."

"I had to help the guy out," the spirit said, bored.

"Sorry, but I still don't know your name," Beth said.

"Alexander."

"Okay then.

"I'm going to put these things away," Beth said as she gestured to her bag.

Ken raises an eyebrow. "How did you manage to hold onto that though your ordeal and have it stay dry?"

"I didn't have it with me. Someone from the train saw it and took it to the guild." She showed him the Fairy Tail mark on the bag.

"Okay then."

Beth walked to the closet and started putting away towels that never got used. "I'm going to give you culinary lessons by the way. That way you aren't starving or exploding the house when I'm gone, which may happen unexpectedly."

"Good luck with that," Alexander said.

"Says the one that tried to use lightning magic to make chicken," Ken said.

"It at least makes it edible."

"Are all spirits like this?" Ken asked.

"Like what?"

"You haven't met Lucy's spirits then," Beth called from her room. She walked back out to the kitchen. "She had me meet them and they were much crazier." Ken gulped. "They're not bad by any means. But definitely interesting. Like Horologium is a clock and narrates what she says when she's inside of him. And Aquarius despises her. When in combat, she attacks opponents and sweeps up Lucy too."

"She is not pleasant to be around," Alexander muttered.

"So I've heard."

"I hope they like me," Ken said.

"You're too clumsy and hyper for my tastes," Alexander replied.

"And he's a pessimistic spirit," Beth said. "Come on, let's get some lunch. Did you learn how to at least make sandwiches?"

"Only peanut butter and jelly."

"Then that's for lunch." Beth went to the fridge. "What kind of jelly do you want?"

"Strawberry." Ken grabbed the peanut butter and bread. They laid out the food products on the counter. "Would you like some?" Ken asked, turning to Alexander, who returned to the Spirit World at that moment.

"Guess not."

The two got their lunch ready and sat down at the table. They chatted all the way through, and Beth got showered and changed afterward. She sat down in the living room with her uncle and curled up into his side. He put his arm around her as he turned back to his book. They sat like that for about an hour before an explosion sounded through the building. The duo looked at each other for a second before jumping up and sprinting out the door, Ken grabbing his key. Thankfully, they were on the first floor and didn't have to run far, stopping outside. Beth paused to take in the scene before her.

"What are you doing? I thought you were still asleep at the guild" she asked as she held out her hand. Siprix took it.

"Coming to let you know I was okay and trying to rent an apartment. The lady doesn't like me," he said as he stood. "Apparently there are 'too many crazy kids around here' and she doesn't want another."

"Well, let's try again. Maybe we can convince her," Beth said. She led her friend back inside. Ken stood to the side, looking doubtful.

"Hello ma'am," Beth said with a cheerful wave. "Can my friend rent a room please?" The old lady glared at Siprix, completely ignoring Beth.

"What do you want?"

"I would like to rent an apartment. Even a studio flat would work," the water mage replied.

"No. Too many crazy kids around here." The old woman stood up on her chair. She shot fire out of her palm and blasted Siprix out the door again. Beth ran out to him again.

"Sorry. I didn't expect her to ignore me," Beth said, helping Siprix up again.

"It's fine. Is she the only person that works at the reception?"

"No. They'll be someone else here tomorrow. Who will be much nicer."

"That might be her way of saying that there are no rooms available," Ken offered. Siprix shrugged.

"Okay then. See you tomorrow, Beth." Siprix walked off.

"Where are you going?"

"I've slept in the wilderness before. I'll be fine."

"If you need anything you know where to find me," Beth said, heading back inside her apartment.

—

Siprix was in a tree not far from Beth's place, looking at the stars. He sat up from his spot and easily climbed to the top of tree, hidden from view. He pulled a communication lacrima from his pocket.

"Is this thing working?"

"Do you have anything to report?" a voice asked over the lacrima.

"Yes, I do sir. I've gotten closer with that Forest Dragon Slayer you told me about that we need for leverage. She seems to be very trusting."

"Good. Are you joining the guild soon?"

"Yes sir. Tomorrow in fact."

"Then we will have another mage come in to assist. Prepare for another encounter within the next week. All hail Acnologia, the Dragon King." Siprix repeated the phrase quietly before putting the lacrima back in his pocket. He flopped down on the tree branch and gazed up at the sky, hands behind his head.

"This world isn't like they said it was. Especially Beth and Fairy Tail. We can't be wrong about Acnologia.

Can we?"

 **Well guys, that's another chapter done. Finally, exams are done! SUMMER TIME! Now onto Review Replies!**

 **Guest: Thanks so much for the support. As said above this is pre- time skip. If I get enough support for the story and readers want to see post- time skip, then I'll probably make a sequel. But I'm not sure yet, depends on if I get reader support. But it will definitely be interesting to see how Beth will handle a fight with someone else who has plant- based magic as, like Natsu is immune to fire attacks, plant attacks don't work on Beth. She eats them like Natsu.**

 **Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	18. Chapter 18: Duck and Cover

**Chapter 18: Duck and Cover**

"Why don't we just have a family day?" Ken asked Beth as she was about to leave for the guild.

"Because I have to work. And I was gone how long?" Beth asked, turning to face her uncle.

"Three days."

Beth smiled. "You just don't want me to get into another unexpected adventure, don't you."

Ken hung his head. "Yes."

"It'll be alright," Beth said, hugging her uncle, who returned it worryingly. "How about this? I'll check in with the others and make sure they're alright. Then I'll come right back home. Okay?"

"That sounds like a plan to me." They broke the embrace.

"I'll see you later," Beth said, grabbing her bag as she opened the door. She walked out without another protest from her uncle.

Beth spotted Siprix once she was outside. She walked over to him.

"Hey," she greeted. "What're you doing here?"

Siprix looked up from the ground and smiled at her. "Just waiting for the receptionist. Hopefully I don't get blasted with fire again."

"Hopefully. So other than get a place to stay, what do you plan to do now?"

"I'm not in a guild yet, so I thought about joining your's. I already have some friends," he responded, gesturing to Beth. "And there's the others too."

"Okay then. I'm gonna head to the guild. See you later." Beth waved at Siprix and started running to the guild. She arrived barely winded five minutes later.

Beth opened the door and spotted Mira. She walked up to her. "Morning Mira," Beth greeted.

Mira looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Beth. You aren't taking a job today, are you?"

"Nope. Promised my uncle I wouldn't. Guess he's not the only one worried about me," Beth said teasingly.

"I'm just making sure you aren't going ot do anything stupid. Like jumping into danger again, like Natsu."

"What did he do?"

"He took a flyer for a S-class job and tried to get Erza to come along so he could go. Erza refused," Mira said gesturing to the table Team Natsu was sitting at.

"Just like Natsu," Beth said chuckling.

 _BANG!_

Beth's head shot up to where the sound came from. It was Gray and Natsu going at each other again. It took only a minute for the entire guild to be fighting each other and making a mess.

"Again?"

"It's always like this." Mira looked at Beth questioningly. "Didn't you know that?"

"Yeah, but I didn't see it that often. I was always on jobs for the past month."

"I guess that's true."

Natsu landed beside Beth from dodging Gray. "Oh hi Beth. Want to help me with Gray?" He jumped away as Gray took his place.

"Sorry Natsu! Not getting in on this one!"

"Stay still you flame brain!" Gray yelled, launching at Natsu again.

"Get back here you two!" Erza said as she chased them around. "You ruined my cake!"

"Does Erza always have a piece of cake?" Beth asked.

"Very often," Mira replied. The two mages looked on as Natsu and Gray, now running side by side, were chased around the guild hall. Beth felt a tap on her shoulder and saw Siprix next to her.

"Is it always this crazy here?"

"Yes." Beth smiled. "Everyday there's a new fight. I haven't seen much due to being in jobs and then the beach incident."

"Ahh, okay." Siprix nodded at Mira in greeting, which she returned. "Is it okay if I join the guild?"

"That's fine!" Mira said, pulling out the stamp. "Where would you like your stamp?"

Siprix rolled up his right sleeve. He pointed to the top of his arm, and Mira placed the stamp. It was an ocean blue color.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail Siprix!" Mira said.

Siprix rolled his sleeve back down and looked around. Beth then pulled him down as a spell flew over their heads. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." They stayed ducking as more spells that missed their targets and hit around them.

Eventually Makarov broke up all the fighting and the two wizards stood up.

"I'm going to check out the job board," Siprix said, walking off.

"See ya." Beth turned to Mira. "I'm gonna head back home. See ya tomorrow."

"Bye Beth." The Forest Dragon Slayer walked out of the guild and ten minutes later arrived at her apartment building.

"Hey Uncle Ken, I'm back."

"Hello Beth. How was the guild today?"

Beth set down her bag and walked into the kitchen. Her uncle was playing Solitaire at the table. "Nothing much. Talked with Mira, avoided a fight between Natsu and Gray, Siprix joined the guild, and we spent a good portion of the day under the bar avoiding stray spells." She sat down by her uncle. "Normal day at Fairy Tail."

"Uh huh." Ken laid down an eight and sighed. "That's another lost round."

"Want to play Go Fish?"

"Sure." Ken started shuffling and dealing the cards.

"Do you have a red ace?"

They played for a good while, stopping once for dinner, before a knock came at the door. Beth opened it and saw Lucy, who looked very serious and worried.

"Hey Lucy, what's up? It's, like, around 20:30." ( **AN For people who don't use a 24 hour clock that's 8:30 pm** )

"Do you have any tracking or healing spells?"

"Not really unless you need plant remedies. Why? Did someone get injured in a fight?" Beth started shifting her weight to different feet.

"Sort of. You know how Siprix went out on a job?" Beth nodded, now really concerned. "Well, things didn't go as planned. Makarov got a letter that said that one of ours was captive and injured. We checked to see if anyone was missing who normally isn't, and it was Siprix. Everyone else was present, except you."

"Good thing I told Mira I was leaving."

Lucy nodded. "Otherwise we would've thought you were captured as well. But Makarov didn't send me here to check. Do you think you can help?"

"Of course." She turned to her uncle. "I'm going to have to go. Do you think you'll be fine for a while?"

Ken sighed, got up, walked over to her, and embraced Beth. "Your friend needs you. Go, and for goodness sake stay safe." He let her go.

Beth turned to Lucy. "Let's go."

 **Well guys I'm back! I'm sorry I've been gone so long. I have excuses, but you guys probably don't want to hear them. So I'm VERY sorry. I hope you guys like this chapter and I will be back to regular posting. So, onto Review Replies!**

 **Guest: Thank you so much for the support! I'm sorry that this wasn't posted sooner. To answer all your questions: Beth's opinion on 5** **th** **Generation Dragon Slayers would be very disturbed because that would be people eating her adoptive mother for nine years. I also don't think I'll have Beth learn any new magic soon, but I will keep the idea in mind. Plans can change. I also don't do a lot of depressing stuff. I also just wanted to break the trend and put a twist, cause it is always orphans who join Fairy Tail. I think it makes it more interesting. And if you let Beth get into a greenhouse of any kind, she will touch all the plants and you get a very powerful Dragon Slayer. I will keep that in mind if she'll need a power boost in the future. I'm also not sure if I'm going to make a post-time skip sequel to this yet, it depends on what the readers want and if I have support. The story is not ending anytime soon, so I'll ask that question when the time comes. I will also keep the Water Dragon Slayer Siprix in mind if I want to add more plot twists to the story. It could be a good one if I plan it right. I should first ask if you don't mind me borrowing these ideas? I can't answer the dragon-has-its-own-mind question because it would be spoilers. I also laughed way to hard at the Atlantis joke. And thank you for the good luck on the exams. They thankfully were easier than I thought. Again thank you so much for the support, it made my day reading the reviews! Sorry this reply is so long.**

 **Well, if you're all still here through the Replies, have a good weekend! Enjoy SUMMER! Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	19. Chapter 19: Rescue Party

**Chapter 19: Rescue Party**

Beth slammed into the doors and ran into the guild. She stopped at the edge of the silent crowd gathered around Makarov. "What's going on?"

Everyone who wasn't already looking at her turned, and parted so that she could get to the front, knowing that it was her that basically brought Siprix to the guild. Beth walked up to the front and looked at her guild master.

"You may want to read this," he said worriedly. He handed Beth a slip of paper.

 _Dear Fairy Tail:_

 _One of your own has taken our 'job'. I am sorry to admit this but it was not what its seemed. While I admit they put up a decent fight, they did eventually fall. By the time you are reading this your friend will be in great peril and will receive no assistance from us. We are located in Magnolia as a hint. I recommend that you come with great speed to their aid._

 _-V̸̜͔͚̟͊̾̎̉̃͘̚ͅi̵̢̛̮͎̝̫͍̫̳̣̘̬̰͆̂̈̌̀̓̃͊̐̿̄̉̒̚̕͝͝ń̶̟͉̞͍͉̗͖͓̖͚͚̮̓̇̌e̴̹̪͈̫͖̤͙̙̗̥̦̙̺͕̟̙͓͈̓g̷̨̨̡̗̣̙͍͙̩̜̟̳͙͇̓̈́̍̐̇̓̑̊͐́͆̿̇͗͆̕͘͠ȟ̸̨̡̻̼̪̥̪̳̭̟̻͔͚̰̄͗͜o̴̭̖͖͓̻̼͆̾̑̿̿̽ͅu̷͙̣̯̳̮͓̭͎̲̐̆̑̈̎̓͆̑̀̈̾̐̒͊͝l̶̳̙̮̅̃̽͊͂̍̓̎̑̊͆̀̓͌̓̊́̕̚͠_

"This is crazy," Beth said. "Siprix isn't a necessarily a joke. I know that much about him."

"He didn't fight a lot in the ocean," Happy said.

"True. But he did keep a spell on all of us for hours. That counts for something." Beth turned back to Makarov. "Wherever they are in this town, I will find them and bring Siprix back."

Makarov nodded. "Bring someone with you."

"I can help," Bisca said, stepping forward.

"I'll go with you," Laki said.

"I mean, we've teamed up before, we can do another round," Natsu suggested, to which the team nodded.

"Well, what magic do you two have?" Beth asked, pointing to Bisca and Laki.

"Requip: The Gunslinger."

"Wood-Make."

Beth's eyes lingered on Laki a moment longer than Bisca. _That could make for some decent combos. Of course we would have to watch out for fire magic then, but I have some spells that could deflect that._

"Fire Dragon Slayer." Everyone looked at Natsu. "Just as a reminder."

"How could I forget." Beth turned back to Laki. "You want to go with me?"

"I said that."

Beth turned back to Makarov. "Master, it'll be Laki and me. We'll leave now."

Makarov nodded. "Good luck you two."

Beth and Laki ran out if the guild and into the streets.

"Any ideas of where they could be?" Beth asked.

"None."

"Then let's look everywhere."

"Are you crazy?"

"No. We have to start somewhere."

"They wouldn't want people to know where they are. Let's check the abandoned buildings first."

"Okay." The girls changed direction to head to the buildings Laki referenced.

As they neared the buildings, they slowed down to catch their breath.

"Didn't know I could run that far."

"Me neither."

They crept up on the first building, and Beth put her ear to the wall to listen. Hearing nothing, she silently opened the door and looked around. It was empty, save a few spiders and cobwebs. She signaled Laki to check the next one. Beth walked inside. She looked at the walls closer, and saw a dent. Walking a little further along, her foot went _splash._ Water lapped over her sandal. Beth glanced over the floor, and noticed it was all wet with only a few puddles.

"Beth." The Dragon Slayer whirled around and get into a ready stance. She relaxed when she saw it was only Laki. "You should see this." Laki led Beth into the second building. There were multiple scorch marks on the wall, along with puddles of water. What caught Beth's attention was the damaged sleeping bag and lantern thrown into a heap in the corner.

"Someone's been living here," Laki said.

"Or making base."

"Who are you?" The girls turned around and saw a boy standing behind them, trying to look brave. His hands were trembling as he clenched them. Beth couldn't make out his features well because of all the dirt on him, but she could clearly make out sky blue eyes, a lean frame, and pulled back shoulder length hair. "Are you with those other people?"

"I'm Beth, and this is Laki. We're just looking for a friend. What 'other people'?"

"There were these people here earlier fighting. One was using water magic, the others were using magic I didn't recognize. They came here while I was practicing my magic. The water guy tried to protect me and got me out of the building. I hid, and an hour later they came out with the boy unconscious. I didn't know what to do so I stayed hidden. But I did follow them in case I could repay him. I just got back."

"You don't believe him, do you?" Laki whispered to Beth.

"I do actually. He's all dirty, and if you look at his clothes they're damp."

Laki rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Beth turned back to the boy. "Can you take us to where they went please? Our friend is the one who they took."

"Of course."

"By the way, what's your name?" Laki asked.

"Aaron." Aaron started walking away and the girls followed.

—

"This is it," Aaron whispered, crouching down as he the building.

"We started on the complete opposite side of town," Beth commented. The building they were in front of was about the size of the guild, but made of dark brick. It was windowless and the door looked solid. It was located on the outskirts of town where there was few people.

"How do we get in?" Laki asked.

"There has to be a way other than the door. I'm not liking the idea of going in the front," Beth said.

"I can check the roof," Aaron suggested.

Before anyone could object, he snuck to the wall and vanished. Beth spotted him on the roof. He waved them over. The girls ran over and Beth pulled them up using her Forest Vine Constrictors.

"I found a vent. Maybe we could squeeze through."

"Okay, first off, how did you get up here? You vanished and reappears up here." Laki said.

"Oh, I use Wind and Teleportation magic. I used the latter." He looked down sheepishly. "The vent's over here."

The trio kneeled by the grate as Beth used her plants to undo the screws. Once it was off, the trio silently slipped into the vent.

 **Well what do you guys think? This chapter okay? I have no idea what to put into this AN other than have a great weekend. Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	20. Chapter 20: Why are Air Ducts so Big

**Chapter 20: Why are Air Ducts so Big**

The trio crawled through the vents with ease, as they were surprisingly wide for air vents. Sounds from the other rooms traveled though noisily. Eventually, Beth told them to stop so she could listen.

After listening hard, all she could hear was snores and people whispering. She signaled that they needed to head down to the first floor vents. They started moving again, and found a shaft downwards. Arron slid down, followed by Beth and Laki. Beth listened again.

A moan reached her ears, and she gestured for Aaron to head right, to which he used the intersection as an opportunity to move and let Beth lead. Beth, Aaron, and Laki crawled through the vents until that came to a vent cover on the ceiling of a dark room with only one door. The room had no light source, the room only illuminated by the light from under the door. But it was enough to let Beth see the figure inside.

Beth used her magic to summon her plants. Carefully, they twisted and turned, before they crawled towards the vent cover. Obeying her commands, the plants unscrewed the large vent cover, before holding onto the remaining pieces. This kept the noise level down, and there was now an opening in the vent. The trio jumped down into the room. The figure didn't give any response to the movement.

Beth tip toed over to the figure lying on the ground, and shook his shoulder. He moaned softly. The Dragon Slayer rolled the figure over. She was staring at Siprix's face, now covered with cuts and bruises. Dirt inclosed him from all sides, as a few particles speckled his face that had a helpless expression plastered to it. A large cut also dripped blood from his forehead, as a bump marked how brutal the men had treated him during his capture. The rest of his body wasn't much better, as his arm was lower than it should've been and all of him was covered in cuts and bruises.

Laki tried to move his arm, but he moaned and pulled away. "Might be dislocated," she whispered.

"I can pop it back in. I did it to myself once when I accidentally fell from a tree," Beth responded. She made some wood and leaves like a mask and put it over Siprix's mouth. "He'll probably scream."

She gestured for Aaron to come over to where she was. "Can you hold his shoulder here? Laki, make sure no one comes in incase this attracts attention." Laki crept to the door and sent Beth a thumbs up. Aaron put his hands on Siprix's shoulder and nodded. Beth popped his arm back in.

All Siprix did was moan and whimper slightly. Beth took to mask off of him, and felt teeth marks in it.

"That really hurt," Siprix murmured.

"Sorry," Beth apologized. "But you're awake?" She shifted so Siprix could look at her.

"Yeah, it's not everyday that a wood mask covers the lower half of your face. Plus the pain woke me up."

"Well, we'll get you out of here soon. Don't worry." Beth winced as Siprix groaned and shifted away from Aaron, who hadn't taken his hands off of Siprix's shoulder.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Aaron said has he hurriedly removed his hands.

Siprix looked at the boy above him. "Oh hey it's you. What're you doing here?"

"I came to help them help you. You saved me, so I thought I could maybe repay the favor," Aaron replied.

"Thanks," Siprix said. Then he paused. "Them?"

"Laki's here too," Beth said. "She uses Wood-Make Magic and is in Fairy Tail. We teamed up to rescue you."

"Okay. Thanks," Siprix groaned. "Do you have any magical pain killing plants?"

"Yeah, this'll act as an ice pack, that's for sure," Beth said as she produced a few Nilfheim berries. "Are you okay with a little chill?"

"Yes. Please just do whatever your gonna do, this is pain is killing me." Beth lifted Siprix's sleeve. He hissed at the contact, but didn't move. She placed one on his swollen shoulder. She wiped some blood off of his forehead and placed another one on the large bump. The rest she placed on various bruises and cuts. "That does help. Thanks."

"No problem." She secured the berries with leaves and thin vines.

"Beth, we got company heading our way," Laki warned.

"Were we too loud?" Aaron asked worriedly.

"No, I would presume they have regular patrols and that includes checking in here," Beth said. "We have to go now." She looked at Siprix. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah, just give me a sec and please help me up." Beth stood and grabbed his hand, pulling Siprix to his feet. Beth and Aaron caught him before he fell to the ground.

"You just keep getting beat don't you." Siprix didn't respond.

Beth turned towards Laki. "A little help to the vent please."

"Wood Make: Stairs." The mages climbed up the stairs quickly, trying to jar Siprix as little as possible. Laki got rid of the stairs just as two men in black shirts and pants with gold hemming came into the room.

"Sound the alarm: the hostage has escaped," one man said into a communications lacrima. The other looked shocked.

"How did he escape? He was beat up and unconscious."

"He must've woke up. We didn't do as much as we could it appears."

"Secure the perimeter and don't let him escape," came a voice over the lacrima. The two men turned and dashed out the door, their gilded clothes flashing in the lights.

"That was a close one," Beth murmured. Siprix groaned quietly. "Just hang on. We'll get you help soon." Beth laid flat on her stomach and Laki and Aaron helped her get Siprix onto her back. With the beat up water mage situated, the group started through the vents again. They managed to get back to the outside vent they came in from and climbed through.

"You are really light, you know that Siprix," Beth said.

"I don't care." Beth stood up on the roof with Siprix on her back, Aaron and Laki close behind her.

"They're all over the place," Laki said, looking down at the streets. "How are we going to do this?"

"I can teleport Siprix to somewhere and then come back for you guys," Aaron suggested.

"Not a bad plan," Beth mused. "Alright. You take Siprix to the forest. Then come back. If you get too tired, we'll find another way." Beth handed Aaron Siprix, who groaned from moving so much. Aaron vanished.

A minute later, he reappeared and took Laki's hand. They teleported away.

Finally, Beth's turn arrived. Taking Aaron's hand, they vanished from the roof and reappeared in the forest a little ways from town. Laki was kneeling next to Siprix, who was lying on the ground and groaning from pain. Beth walked over to him.

"I guess the full wave of pain hit me while we were in the vents. It's a lot worse now," Siprix said, gritting his teeth.

Beth winced and sat next to her friend. "Sorry. I have an herb that can help you sleep if you you want." Siprix nodded.

The Forest Dragon Slayer grew a small leaf and placed it in the water mage's mouth. He chewed it slowly and swallowed the herb.

"Dang that's strong," Siprix commented. "How long will this last?"

"The herb will keep you asleep for an hour or two, then you'll wake up."

"Okay," Siprix said, yawning. "Thanks, Beth. Real *yawn* big, help." Siprix's head lulled to the side as he nodded off.

Beth glanced over the sleeping mage. "We need to get his wounds cleaned and bandaged. They could get infected."

"I'm too tired to teleport us all. I'm sorry," Aaron said.

"You got us off the roof, and that's more than enough." Beth looked towards the town and then to the guild hall. She turned towards Laki. "Think we could walk?"

Laki judged the distance. "Yes, we could. Though one of us would need to carry Siprix and the others would need to be ready to defend if we ran into trouble."

"I'll carry Siprix. I don't know how to fight well yet and would only get in the way," Aaron said.

Beth nodded. "Okay then. Laki and I will cover you if needed."

Aaron lifted Siprix and put the water mage onto his back. They took off towards the guild at a jog.

As they entered town, Beth spotted someone on a roof. They jumped off and landed in the road, stopping the mages.

"Nice try Fairy Tail. But you won't be getting any farther!" With that the man drew a sword from the scabbard on his waist, and charged.

"Forest Dragon's Leaf Sword!" Beth rushed to meet him.

Fortunately, Beth's leaves were as strong as the sword they clashed with. The three swords locked positions as the man did a double take. Beth brought one of her blades back and sliced at the man, who jumped back to avoid the attack. The Forest Dragon Slayer jumped up and summer salted over her opponent, slicing with her leaf swords as she came down. The man didn't react in time and got sliced, but not deep enough to do major damage.

"That actually stings girl. Now you're gonna get it!"

"Wood Make: Wall!" Laki's spell went up just on time as another person was about to attack Beth from behind. The man Beth was fighting charged at her. Beth dodged and her opponent crashed into the wall as well.

"Thanks!"

"No problem." The girls dashed into battle as the men rushed to meet them.

"Forest Dragon's Pineapple Grenade!" Beth launched the newly formed pineapple into the air. It exploded, littering the ground in sharp barbs. Their opponents didn't know any better and stepped on them, and howled on pain.

"Amber Shot!" Beth trapped the two men to the ground with the sticky sap as Laki got wood to suspend them in the air. The sap hardened a few seconds later.

"Let's keep moving." They took off at a jog again.

"Why didn't you trap them in the first place?" Laki asked.

"I can't use it in every situation. Best not to become dependent on it."

They made it halfway to the guild before they ran into more people. Laki and Beth started with long ranged attacks.

"Forest Dragon's Reaching Vine!"

"Wood Make: Lance!"

Their spells were blocked by a shield a mage put up.

"So they have magic this time. Okay then."

"Got anything else that blows up?"

"Make a lance again, I have an idea. Aim it at the ground."

Laki followed Beth's instructions. Before the lance was fired, Beth yelled "Firecracker Pepper Vines!" The vegetable plant wrapped itself around the lance as it took off. The organic weapons blew up in the faces of the Vineghoul wizards, throwing them back. They all stayed down after that.

"They are not very determined, now are they," Laki said as they took off again.

"Not a bit," Aaron replied.

"That was rhetorical."

"Sorry."

"Come on we're almost there," Beth said.

They arrived at the guild hall without further incident, and burst through the doors. Everyone turned to look at them, and relaxed when they saw Siprix, albeit concerned when they realized he was unconscious.

Makarov walked up to them without saying anything, and led them to a room on the side of the guild hall. Beth recognized it as the room she woke up in when she arrived at the guild. Aaron put Siprix down in the bed closest to the door.

—

Beth's head shot up when her ears caught a faint groan. She looked at the sleeping and bandaged mage in the bed she was sitting next to. Siprix groaned again and shifted. He opened his eyes and looked around, his body tensing. He relaxed when he spotted Beth.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. Still painful, but less than before. The herb really helped, thanks."

"No problem. You need anything?"

"Got any food?" Beth handed him an apple that she had waiting.

The water mage bit into the fruit ravenously. He didn't stop until he ate the whole thing, core and all.

"Thanks."

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Breakfast, I think. What time is it?"

"It's nearly eleven. Like I said, one hour."

"Yeah. It was definitely breakfast."

Beth stood up. "I'm going to let the others know you're awake." With that she left the room.

She found Aaron and Laki at a table, talking with Master Makarov. Aaron looked considerably better, having gotten cleaned up and changed clothes. Beth walked over to them.

"Hey there was blonde hair and freckles under all that dirt."

"I know right. Master Makarov is letting me join Fairy Tail! I can work now! But I still need to work on my magic," Aaron said, he voice faltering at the end.

"Yes, but he has a lot of potential to become a great wizard," Laki said.

"Well I wanted to let you guys know that Siprix is awake."

"And how is he feeling?" Makarov asked.

"Better, though he's still in pain. I was just about to ask Mira for something, since he's hungry too."

Makarov nodded. "I'll go and speak to him about what happened. You three can join if you want." The mages nodded. Laki and Aaron followed Makarov, while Beth got a meal for Siprix.

She walked into a silent room. Makarov, Laki, and Aaron were staring at Siprix, who was in turn deep in thought. "They wanted me for bait. That was the last thing I heard before I blacked out."

"Bait for who?" Makarov asked as Beth placed the meal on Siprix's lap.

Siprix looked towards Beth and caught her eyes before saying "You."

 **Hey guys! What's up? So you may have noticed that this chapter is longer than the others. This is going to be the new normal for this story. That's right, I am doubling the chapter size from here on out. This will not affect how often I post, I will still be posting on Friday afternoons weekly. So with that covered, we now have twenty chapters! And shoutout to my friend SilverConstellation, who beta read this chapter and helped out a bunch. Thank you so much!**

 **So with all my ranting said: Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	21. Chapter 21: Twists and Turns

**Chapter 21: Because Twists and Turns**

Beth stood there, surprised. "Me? Why would they want me? I'm not even a strong wizard or someone with a lot of enemies."

"I didn't hear why. But I did wake up at one point while they were carrying me. They said that they were going to give you to another group. I didn't hear anything else because they knocked me out again. I didn't come to again until you all arrived."

"They were hired," Aaron said in disbelief.

"This is troubling," Makarov said, deep in thought. "Beth I'm afraid for the time being I will ask you to refrain from taking any jobs by yourself until this situation is resolved. Also, you should probably change that 'not a strong wizard' comment. I'm sure Team Natsu would be happy to help you."

"I'll talk to them about that."

"Can I join too?" Aaron asked.

"Of course. And Siprix too, of he wants when he's recovered," Beth replied.

"When it doesn't hurt to move, count me in."

Beth looked at the untouched food in her friend's lap. She took the fork and put it into his hand. "You need to eat you know."

Siprix laughed. "Here we are talking about precautions to keep you safe, and you tell me to eat." Nevertheless, the water mage took a bite of the food in front of him.

"I can fight. You can't."

"Fair enough."

Beth turned to Makarov. "Do you think they'll attack the guild?"

"I hope not. But if they do, we'll need to be ready." He stood up and started to walk away. "I will address the situation to the rest of the guild."

Laki walked out too.

Siprix stared at Beth. "What are you going to do now?"

Beth shrugged. "Talk to the others, see if they'll help me train and get stronger. I need to be able to defend myself. Especially now. Now eat."

"Fine," Siprix said. Beth walked out, deep in thought.

The murmur of voices quieted down when she entered the main hall. Beth walked over to where Team Natsu was sitting and joined them.

"You okay Beth?" Happy asked from his perch on Natsu's shoulder.

The Forest Dragon Slayer nodded. "Just confused. Why would these people want me?"

"Unfortunately, none of us have an answer that," Gray said. "Anything we can do to help?"

"Can you guys help me train?"

"Of course. What do you need help with?" Lucy asked

"Well, try everything. I'm not that good with my leaf blades, and I'm just bad at combat in general. The most experience I've had is a pack of Vulcans and the rescue mission. Everything else has either been against Naymmi or really small."

"You aren't that bad actually," Aaron said, coming up and sitting next to her. She sent him a small smile.

"We can definitely help with that," Natsu said. "Plus, you have another Dragon Slayer here!"

"Thanks guys, you're the best," Beth said, smiling wider. "Is it okay if Aaron and Siprix join in too?"

"That's fine. Maybe you guys should form a team," Erza suggested.

"One thing at a time." Aaron looked shocked at the suggestion.

"Should we start tomorrow?" Gray asked. "The sooner we start, the better."

"Sounds like a plan."

Lucy stood up and walked away. She came back a few minutes later.

"I talked to Master Makarov about you heading home. He said it's okay as long as someone's with you. I can come with you if you like."

"We all can," Natsu said as the rest of them got up. "If you want to."

"I should probably update my uncle on the situation. All he knows right now is that Siprix was captured, and nothing else." Beth stood as well. "Thanks guys."

"You're welcome," Lucy said. They walked out if the guild hall, the other mages glancing at them questionably.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Cana asked Mirajane.

"No."

The walk to Beth's apartment was uneventful. Everyone was silent, ears primed for sounds. Even with two Dragon Slayers, all they heard was the night sounds of crickets and their own footsteps. When Beth opened the door, she was tackled with a hug from her uncle.

"Thank goodness you're alright," Ken said. He released her and stepped back. "I've been worried sick."

Beth rolled her eyes. "I'm fine Uncle Ken. Mission was simple really." She turned back to her friends, who were standing there awkwardly. "Thanks guys. See you tomorrow."

"I'll come by and get you at eight. Just to be on the safe side," Gray said. Beth nodded, said good night, and closed the door.

Ken pulled her to the table, and sat down. "Tell me everything."

—

"WHAT!?" Ken exclaimed when Beth got to the part about Siprix only being bait for her capture. "Why are you even allowed out of the house anymore?"

"I can't avoid the trouble. There will be someone coming after me eventually. I need to prepare. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza have already agreed to train Aaron, Siprix, and me. It'll be fine soon enough for me to go out on my own."

"Yes, but all you ever get is trouble."

"Agreed. Now, it's one in the morning. It's best if we get some sleep." Beth headed off to her room with a final "good night" to her uncle, who looked at her closed door with concern.

"You are too much like your mother. From what I hear, both of them." With that, he sighed and went to his own room.

As soon as the last light went off in the apartment, a window slid open in the kitchen. A man in gilded clothes slipped in, avoiding the plants in the windowsill, and looked around. He walked silently into the hall and stopped in front of Ken's room. The man opened the door silently, and took in the room. It was mostly bare, with only a shelf full of books and a bed tucked into corners. The man rested his eyes on the sleeping figure sprawled on the bed. Still keeping silent, he slipped over and threw a bit of white dust into Ken's face. Ken mumbled and shifted, but didn't stir. The man chuckled softly.

"That should keep you out for a nice long while." He turned and walked out of the room. "Now, for the girl."

The man went silent again, and walked to Beth's room. He slipped in just as silently as he did before. He was met with the sight of an indoor greenhouse look.

The shelves and headboard were covered in pots full of different plants, ranging from ferns to wildflowers to herbs. There were even hanging plants from the ceiling, flowering ivy and vines hanging over the sides of their pots. The plants also released a bunch of perfumes, bombarding the man's nose with sweet and fresh scents. The dresser was in a back corner, but books were on the top instead of plants. Upon further inspection, there were revealed as plant encyclopedias.

The man turned his attention to the bed in the other corner, where Beth was curled up, asleep. She cuddled her pillow as she rolled over and mumbled, remaining unaware that someone was also in the room. The man gingerly pulled back the covers, and visibly relaxed when he saw she was clothed in a lavender spaghetti strap top and black nylon shorts. The man was about to use his Sleep Magic, when the door to the apartment slammed open, startling the man and waking Beth. She shot up so fast, her braided hair and pendant slapped her face. Upon seeing the man, she squeaked and shot out her leg. The man caught it effortlessly, and pulled her off balance.

"Beth!" A flame lit up the room, blinding both people for an instant.

"Natsu! Ahh!" Beth yelled as she was suddenly pulled in front of the man, who pulled a knife out.

"Stop where you are, or she gets it," the man said, not bringing the knife to her throat, but still holding it close to her face. Team Natsu stopped in the doorway.

"Let her go, and you won't get hurt," Erza said in a level voice, despite the situation.

The man laughed. "And what makes you think that you're in any position to attack?" Beth winked at her friends. She spread her hands.

"Forest Dragon's Hydra!" A green seal appeared below her, and a four headed plant, ten feet/three and a half meters tall sprung up from the ground. Startled, the man released Beth and jumped back. The hydra plant turned towards him. Beth ran to her friends.

"Are you hurt?" Erza asked. Beth shook her head, and turned to face the man. He dived towards the plant, and slashed his knife at the stems. He cut them before the heads had time to react. They fell to the floor, streaking, and shriveled into nothingness.

"Not good," Beth said under her breath. Natsu moved in front of Beth, and put his arm out.

"You need to leave. Now. We'll take care of this guy. Happy, make sure she gets to the guild."

"No need," said the man. He sent some dust at the group, who backed up.

Someone else grabbed Beth by her arm, but it wasn't one of her guildmates. The Forest Dragon Slayer pulled away, but the guy had a good grip on her. She caught the flash of gilded clothes. The others turned around and Erza swung her sword, but the guy dodged. He let go of Beth in the process, who backed up into Lucy. The celestial mage put her hand in Beth's shoulder. The first guy got in close and scattered his white dust, effectively getting it in the faces of the Fairy Tail mages. Beth successfully managed to summon an herb and shoved it into Natsu's mouth. The fire mage looked surprised, but didn't reject. Just then, Gray dropped to the floor, unconscious, as the others struggled to stay awake. The second guy grabbed Beth and met no resistance. He put the sleeping mage onto his back.

"Let's go." The men sprinted away as the Fairy Tail mages tried to follow them. The effects of the Sleep Magic finally got the best of them, as them all fell to the ground. The men ran out the door and out of the building, shoving through people who were curious about the commotion. They jumped onto a motorcycle, put on the SE-plug, and sped away.

Back in the apartment, Natsu woke up with a start and look around. He sprinted to the window, and glimpsed the men turning a corner, taking Beth with them. The fire mage ran back to his friends, deemed that they would wake up soon and catch up, and sprinted out the door. He took off for the guild.

—

"When will they be here to collect her?"

Beth heard a voice as she woke up, and cracked her eyed open a tiny bit, not moving the rest of her body. She saw two men standing next to her, the same two who broke into her apartment.

"Soon." They walked out of the room, locking the door behind them. Beth listened to their receding footsteps.

When the hall was quiet, Beth sat up and looked around. She was in the same room Laki, Aaron, and she found Siprix in. She saw a pair of clothes next to her, a gilded cardigan with a matching ankle length skirt. She shivered at the chill in the room she didn't notice before and put them on, using a vine to keep the cardigan closed. A glint of light off metal caught her eye, and Beth noticed the vent cover she failed to put back on. She looked up, and found that the vent had been left untouched. She raised her eyebrow.

"Sloppy." She stood up and jumped, just catching the vent with her finger tips. Then something grabbed her hands and threw her down. She landed with a soft "umph."

Beth looked up. There were a pair of blue eyes staring back at her. "Sorry. I can't let you go. Enjoy your stay." The person sounded very similar to Siprix.

Beth groaned and spread out on the ground. _Guess I just hang out here until the others come_ she thought. _Wonder what they're planning?_

— _Back at Fairy Tail—_

"Guys!" Natsu yelled as he burst through the doors, panting. "Wizards-Beth-Sleep Magic." The others looked up and stood, hearts sinking. Natsu straightened. "We got ambushed. The others are unconscious in Beth's apartment. And they got her."

Murmurs and gasps went through the crowd as Makarov went up on the stage. "Okay everybody. We need to take immediate action. Natsu and Cana, go get Lucy, Gray, Happy, and Erza from their current location. Bisca, Najeel, once Team Natsu is ready to go, you two will assist them in Beth's rescue. Aaron and Laki will assist in navigating to the base. Everyone else will be here incase they try to prevent exactly what we're doing." Everyone nodded.

From his bed, Siprix listened to what was being announced. He clenched his fist when he heard Beth was captured, and that the others were going to rescue her. "They're probably just going to barge in without knowing where to go or what they're up against." He sighed and tested his legs. The water mage smiled when he found he could move them without pain, as well as his other limbs. "Never healed this fast before. Wonder if Beth has anything for do with it." He managed to stand, albeit shakily, and headed for the door. "Guess I'll have to do my own training, and fast."

 **Hey guys! ThinMint here! Sorry for missing last week. Some family needed me and I couldn't post. Hope y'all have a good weekend! Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	22. Chapter 22: Unexpected Meeting

**Chapter 22: Unexpected Meeting**

— _Fairy Tail guild hall—_

Natsu and Cana walked in dragging the rest of Team Natsu behind them, one mage on each of their shoulders. Natsu had Happy tucked under his chin. They entered the med bay and laid down their friends. Natsu looked around as Makarov and Mirajane entered as well.

"Um, where's Siprix?" he asked.

Makarov sighed. "He must've went out. He should be safe, now that he isn't a target." He looked at the sleeping mages. "For now, let's focus on them."

— _With Siprix—_

The still banged up water mage breathed a sigh of relief. He got into a ready stance, and waved his hand. Water from the ocean slowly followed the movement. Raising both hands, he molded the water into the shape of his guild mark. Once he got it there he held it for a minute, before releasing it. He pumped the air with his fist. "Finally. Molding a shape fast is easy, but doing it slowly shows real skill. And power too." He floated a glob in front of his face. "Now let's see if I can do it while walking to that base." He started walking while shaping the water glob into the Fairy Tail logo again. He frowned. "I just hope it isn't too late."

— _With Beth—_

The Dragon Slayer yawned and rolled over for the millionth time. She looked up at the vent with a bored expression. "What time is it?"

She saw movement as the guy up above checked his wristwatch. "One thirty." Beth groaned and flopped onto her back. "Why don't you just use your magic and get out? You haven't tried that."

Beth raised an eyebrow. "I'm not that strong. I can take one on one, not all of you. Trust me, otherwise I would bust out. But it would mean doom for myself. So I'm not going to do it."

"Seems like you know a lot about combat."

Beth shrugged. "I just think. Something people need to do more of." She got a thoughtful hum for response. "Hey do you guys have a greenhouse or garden room or something?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

The guy hesitated for a second before saying. "Yeah, it's actually the only place with windows. I'm usually stationed there. Being here is new at least."

"You mean that room in the front right?"

"That's the one."

Beth rolled over onto her stomach and smirked. _Thanks for telling me where I can gain some power,_ she thought. _Hope you have the right plants._

— _Siprix—_

The water mage grunted as he focused on walking and shaping the water slowly into different complex shapes, starting with the Fairy Tail logo and then moving on to other guild marks he had seen while out and about. He was so focused, he walked straight into a wall. He grunted as he fell and water splashed all around and on him. Siprix sighed. "I should be feeling at least something from that. But I don't." He stood up. "Whatever Beth must've gave me is good." He looked around and noticed that he was near the Vineghoul base. "Not a high security, huh." The water mage looked and saw a tree behind a building a few buildings down from the base that reached the roof. Not bothering to pick up the water, he quickly walked over and scaled the tree.

Siprix walked over to the edge of the roof. He judged the distance, took a few steps back, and took a running leap across the gap. His fingers barely managed to grab the edge of the other roof. Panting and gritting his teeth, the mage pulled himself up and repeated the action to get to the roof of the Vineghoul base. "Okay," he panted. "Never doing the again."

Siprix walked over to the still open vent and jumped in.

— _Fairy Tail—_

The mages groaned as they woke up.

"What— where's Beth?!" Erza shouted as she bolted upright, startling the others. Natsu shot up from the chair he was sitting in.

The fire mage sighed. "We failed. She's captured." Lucy groaned.

"Sleep Magic," Gray muttered. "What's the plan?" They all looked to Natsu.

"Tell everyone you're all awake. Then Bisca and Gajeel are coming with us to get Beth. Laki and Aaron are going to lead us there." They nodded and stood up.

"Then let's go."

They exited the room.

— _Beth—_

Beth examined the shoes she made. Large leaves made the body and tongue, wood bark as the soles for traction. Thin vines served as the sewing to hold the items together. Thicker ones served as laces. She slipped then on and tied them, deep in thought.

"You know you're not going anywhere right?" the guy in the vent asked. "Why bother."

"Because It's something to do and my feet are cold."

"Then why not slippers?"

Beth shrugged. "Never made them before. Might as well learn now." She set to work on making the footwear.

Soon she was holding slippers made of leaves with moss lining. "What do ya think?" She heard banging in the vents and then silence. The Forest Dragon Slayer stood silently, listening for any indication that something was happening. She looked into the vents.

A pair of ocean blue eyes looked back at her. "What are you doing?" Beth asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." The figure dropped to the floor and approached Beth.

She swung her slipper and hit him hard in the face. He stumbled back and bit back a yelp.

"Are slippers your new weapon?" The person stumbled into the one crack of light in the room and Beth ran and embraced him.

"What are you doing here? You should be resting!" she scolded him quietly. He laughed. "Siprix I'm not joking. You're hurt badly."

"And not help you?" the water mage said, still rubbing his cheek. "Fat chance. But why are you wearing those?" The door started to creak open, and Beth shoved Siprix into the corner where he wouldn't be spotted right away. A man in gilded clothes stood there. Beth couldn't get a good look at his face due to the backlighting.

"You are to come with me. Quickly and quietly." He stared at Beth. She put out three fingers from her hand. Two. One.

An explosion shook the building as shouting and footsteps echoed down the hall. The man at the door turned and ran. Beth and Siprix glanced at each other and shrugged. They ran out of the room.

"Do you think that was the others?" Beth asked.

"Totally." They ran into some Vineghoul wizards, who fired at Siprix, thinking Beth was an ally. Siprix took half and Beth took the others. They each finished off their opponents with two spells.

"When did you get so strong?" They asked each other at the same time.

"Must've been stronger than I thought."

"Trained before I came." They took off again. They rounded a corner.

"Oof!" The duo ran onto some people. Beth felt a slight breeze and sword edge gently touching the back of her neck.

"Hey cool it. It's us," Siprix said, holding up his hands in surrender. Bisca pointed her gun at Beth, unconvinced.

"Why are you helping an enemy?"

"Cause I'm not one." The others realized their mistake.

Erza lowered her sword. Lucy ran up to Beth and pulled her off Aaron. Natsu pulled the air mage to his feet. "Sorry, we got confused," Happy said, landing on Beth's shoulder. She smiled, signalling it was fine.

"And how did you get here?" Erza asked Siprix.

"I snuck in through the vents." He looked at the Fairy Tail mages gathered in the hall. "Someone needed to get her out while you caused a distraction."

"It worked," Aaron said. "Just don't crash into us again."

"No promises," Beth said. She started jogging to the exit. "Let's go." The mages exited the building without problem, and remained unaware of the two wizards following them.

—

The group was met with cheers and sighs of relief when they entered the guild hall. Makarov stood up from where he was seated and walked over to them.

"I see that the mission was successful. I'm glad to see you safe Beth. Siprix, I'm surprised that your feeling better already."

"Thank her," the water mage said nodding in Beth's direction. He shifted his weight to one leg.

"BETH!" Everyone turned as Ken came charging into the guild hall. He tackled Beth in a hug.

Natsu gave an embarrassed smile and put a hand on the back of his head. "Yeah, I forgot about him."

"You forgot?" Beth said raising an eyebrow. "He literally sleeps across the hall."

"He didn't react at all the entire time," Gray said.

"That's 'cause I was asleep!"

"Sorry," Lucy said.

"Well now that we're all here," Makarov started, "and that it is near three in the morning-how about some sleep?"

"I can have some spirits keep an eye out for any enemies," Lucy said. Makarov nodded. The guild master gestured for Ken, Beth and Siprix to follow him. They entered the med bay.

"Feel free to rest here as long as you need. And you," he said gesturing to Beth, "aren't leaving without one of us there. Just as a precaution. Siprix you don't count as you're injured."

"Thank you Master," Beth and Siprix said as he left to address the situation to the other mages.

"Hey, why is everyone still here in the middle of the night?" Beth asked as they each took a bed.

"Because they thought this was going to happen when they saw you and Team Natsu leave," Siprix said. He grimaced as he shifted into a comfortable position. "Hey, what did you give me and how long does it last?"

"Pain killing plant that lasts for about two hours. Snuck it into your salad." Beth yawned.

"It helped a lot. *yawn* Thanks." He mumbled the last part before drifting off. The last things that Beth heard was her uncle's snores and Lucy summoning her spirits before sleep claimed her.

—

Beth stretched out as light came in through the window. Siprix and Ken were still asleep, sprawled across their beds. She heard the door open and turned to look.

Erza met her eyes and smiled. "What time is it?" Beth asked groggily.

"Nine thirty." Beth sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Okay then." She was about to speak again when Lucy came into the room, looking concerned.

"Beth, stay here." Beth frowned as she stood up and followed Lucy out of the room, Erza right behind them.

Beth raised an eyebrow and waited a minute before slipping out of the room silently. She climbed onto the stage and peered over the mages gathered around the entrance. Beth's expression changed to one of surprise, caused by the two Vineghoul wizards. There were only two, a man and a woman. The man had short, curly red hair while the woman had shoulder length straight black hair. Both had pale skin and freckles. They both had on gilded pants and shirts, but the man had on black sandals while the woman had on grey one inch heels. Both wore black bandanas traced with white designs over their mouths and sunglasses.

"We mean no harm," the man said in a deep voice. "We just want to talk." Beth furrowed her brow in thought as a familiar scent reached her nose.

"As if we could trust you," Natsu said from his place near the front center. Beth placed the scent, and stifle a gasp of surprise.

"And what makes you think that you're welcomed here?" Makarov asked. Beth slowly climbed off the stage, and crept over to the crowd.

"The fact that we have a family member here." Beth lit up at those words.

"I thought I recognized your voices and scents," Beth said. She smiled. "Ones I haven't heard of smelled in a long time." The Vineghoul wizards turned to face her directly, as did everybody else. The woman's hands flew to her mouth as the man just stared. "Answer me this though: how did you end up in Vineghoul?"

"After running from a mine in Rosemary Village. That's where it started," the woman answered. Beth relaxed and ran to the two, pure joy on her face. She tackled them on a hug. "I missed you two so much. Mom. Dad."

 **Hey I made it! It's still Friday here! Depending on where you live it might be Saturday by the time you read this. But it still counts as a Friday update because it's Friday here. Hope you all have a good weekend. Go get 'em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	23. Chapter 23: There's Brave

**Chapter 23: There's Brave and Then There's Just Plain Stupid**

"Wait, these are your parents?" Natsu asked in disbelief. Beth nodded as she removed the sunglasses and bandanas. Her parents didn't object.

"You still wear the same perfume, Mom," Beth said as she snuggled further into their arms. Her mom could only nod, tears in her eyes. Her father had a similar expression as he kissed his daughter's head. All of Fairy Tail was silent at the sudden turn of good fortune, some even starting to cry.

Beth stood rapidly, dragging her parents up with her. "Guys, these are my parents. Katie and Seth."

"WHAT!?" sounded from the back of the guild, startling everyone. They turned to see Ken as he sprinted up and made his way up front, pausing when he saw the two newcomers. He walked up to Katie and placed his hands on her shoulders. They stared at each other for a second before they embraced tightly.

"I thought I would never see you again. I thought you had-" Ken couldn't make himself finish the sentence. Katie sobbed quietly.

"Ken" was all she could say through her overwhelming joy. The siblings hugged for a bit more before Ken turned to Seth.

"Seth I'm so glad you're alright," Ken said as they embraced.

"You too," Seth replied. They pulled apart as Makarov stepped forward.

"Well, I hate to break up this reunion," Makarov started, "but there is still the matter that Vineghoul is after Beth." Katie nodded as she pulled her daughter close to her side, Beth leaning in.

"I do suppose you are right."

"And you are?" Seth asked.

"Makarov Dreyar, master of the Fairy Tail guild. Which as you know your daughter is a part of." Beth raised her hand at this a little to show her parents her guild mark.

"We can talk inside, come on," Beth said as she pulled her parents inside the guild hall. They followed Beth to a table in the back while the rest of Fairy Tail took other tables.

Makarov, Aaron, and Team Natsu joined the table with the family.

"So how did you guys escape from Vineghoul?" Natsu asked.

"They have a really lax security there, if you didn't notice. All we had to do was leave unnoticed and we were fine," Katie said.

"They really don't care what their members do as long as they do their jobs," Seth added.

"We've noticed," Beth said chuckling.

"Do you know who's leading them?" Erza asked.

"No, they keep that information secret for some reason," Katie said.

"What about who hired them?" Gray tried.

"Sorry, apparently not even the Vineghoul boss knew that," Seth said. "We asked."

"So you guys were basically grunts," Aaron said more than questioned.

"Yep."

"So no new information," Lucy murmured to herself.

"Sorry," they said. Beth pulled them closer to her.

"It's quite alright," Makarov said. "We'll just have to keep our eyes open and wait for this to blow over then." No one showed pleasure at this idea, even Makarov himself. "We can't just rush into battle blindly and tell them to leave us alone, Natsu." The pink-ette looked a little put out, as that was what exactly he had in mind.

However, he didn't have to pout for long as an explosion shook the building, sending everyone to clutch to something or fall over. Siprix ran over to the group, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"What happened?" he asked, glancing around the table. His eyes lingered on Seth and Katie a moment longer than the rest, but didn't ask any questions.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Beth said standing. The rest of the guild had gotten into ready stances, some going to peek out the door and windows.

"Vineghoul wizards!"

"They've surrounded the building!"

"Now what do they want?"

" _Fairy Tail!_ " a voice rang in everyone's minds. " _You have something that we want. Hand over the girl and we will leave without incident. Otherwise we will have to use force._ " Everyone looked to Beth, waiting for her response.

"There's a fine line between brave and stupid. I think we both know you crossed it a long time ago." The others gave silent approval to the girl before they heard a growl sound. Not a second later, Vineghoul wizards forced their way into to hall through the doors and windows, even coming from the second floor.

"Beth get out of here!" Natsu said. "We'll take care of them." He lit his fist as they started dodging spells sent towards them.

"And leave you guys here? Not a chance," Beth said, doing the same with her Forest magic. She glanced at her parents, who were sending attacks back at the other Vineghoul wizards. Ken had summoned his Deneb spirit, which he told to not attack. The spirit did the exact opposite.

Seeing that her family was able to defend themselves, she glanced at Siprix. He was fighting back to back with Aaron, sending out jets of air and water.

"Beth look out!" She jumped out of the way of an energy beam.

"Thanks Gray!" She turned to the opponents flooding the guild hall.

"Forest Dragon's Forest's Storm!" Beth put her hands out in front of her as a seal appeared. Razor sharp leaves, wood chunks, and pointy seeds flew towards her opponents, who got hit. They recovered quickly as Beth readied another spell. "Forest Dragon's Pineapple Grenade!" She chucked the fruit at the wizards and it exploded against them, lodging the barbs into their clothes and skin. They hissed as they moved in on Beth. "Forest Dragon's Wing Attack!" Her fist hit the wizards, sending them flying into their allies.

Beth turned as a yell sounded behind her. "Forest Dragon's Leaf Swords!" She sliced a spell coming from behind and blocked a sword from another. She turned a quick circle and noticed she was cut off from her friends and surrounded by Vineghoul wizards. _Crud, now what do I do?_ she thought. _I've only fought this many enemies at once, once!_ She noticed them closing in or charging spells. _Well, here goes nothing._ She jumped up and flipped in the air, behind one of the sword- wielding wizards. She sliced down as she fell, cutting the man down his back. Charging a Forest Dragon's Claw, she roundhouse kicked him into another wizard across the circle. She blocked another attack when she landed. She dodged as a magic attack cam her way, another Vineghoul wizard getting hit instead. She ran across the circle and started swiping at another swordsman, before getting hit in the side with a kick. She rolled to a stop as a spell hit her from behind, sending her crashing into the floor. She got up as a kick connected to her face, sending her flying backwards once again. She quickly raised her blades as a spell was about to hit her again, before jumping up and dodging another kick. She bumped into someone and turned, about to attack them. Natsu grabbed her arms before she could and pulled her down, a spell just missing their heads.

"Thanks!" She jumped over him as another Vineghoul wizard sent a spell their way. She sliced it down before it could harm either of one.

"No problem!" Natsu responded as he sent an enemy wizard flying across the hall. Beth quickly engaged another group of wizards. They had their backs turned to her as she swept their legs out from under them, disarming them with her leaves as the fell. They were quickly swept away by a water jet from Siprix.

"You okay?" Beth asked as she deflected another attack.

"Yeah, but what happened to you?! You're bleeding!" Siprix touched where Beth's skin had split on her chin, blood running down her neck in a tiny stream. She hissed at the contact.

"Got a kick to the face, didn't even notice I was bleeding until you touched it," she said.

"Watch out!" Aaron yelled as he directed a wind current towards the two, forcing them to jump apart. It hit a Vineghoul wizard who was charging at them, sending him crashing into one of his allies instead. Aaron came over. "Are you two okay?"

"Fine," they answered.

They turned as more Vineghoul wizards charged at them. Beth broke away and started sword fighting another wizard. She sliced at the wizard who blocked and parried every attack with ease. Beth backed off and raised her hands, unleashing a Forest's Storm. She hit the wizard dead on, sending him across the room. She yelped as an attack hit her side again, sending her tumbling to the ground. Aaron sent a wind jet at her attacker, allowing her to get up. She immediately got hit with the flat side of a sword. She grimaced as she blocked another hit, and ran around to his other side. Deciding to switch tactics, she pointed her leaves at her opponent and snapped her fingers. They flew off her wrists towards her opponent, hitting him dead on. They sliced his sides as Beth rushed forwards, hitting him again with a Forest Dragon's Claw. Her opponent flew across the room and crashed into one of the other Vineghoul wizards about to attack Gray. She aimed a Forest's Storm at another Vineghoul wizard before chucking a Firecracker Pepper at another. Lucy yelled a warning to Beth, who jumped out of the way of another spell aimed at her. Jumping to dodge another sword strike, Beth charged a Roar attack and unleashed it at more opponents.

It occurred to her that her that she hadn't seen her family, and looked around frantically. Seth and Katie were fighting back to back, and holding off enemies very well. Ken was yelling at Alexander, who was causing mass chaos to all the Vineghoul forces. Satisfied that they weren't in serious danger, she looked for her fiends. Natsu and Gray were easy to find and sounded like they were enjoying the fight. Beth also say Lucy and Erza fighting back to back, Cancer assisting the fight with Tauros. Happy was flying overhead, sending out warnings to the others. Beth didn't get the chance to spot anyone else due to Siprix ramming into her side. They fell to the ground. A spell sent them up into the air. Beth yelped again as she felt a sword bite into her side, slicing her skin. She heard Siprix follow suit as he was hit as well. They got back up as Beth threw a Pineapple Grenade, sending their opponent backwards. She used a Roar attack as Siprix created a water tornado around the two, catching the Roar and integrating it into the water. The resulting attack was a water tornado filled with razor sharp leaves hitting anyone who got close. Siprix shot the water outwards a short distance, pushing back anyone close by. The Vineghoul wizards finally got the message and left the guild hall, screaming and yelling about dropping the job. Fairy Tail cheered as they ran, victory secured. Siprix and Aaron came up to the Beth.

"Are you okay?" Siprix asked, panting. Beth nodded, catching her breath.

"Yeah, I am. You? Aaron?" She winced. Spirix nodded as he winced as well.

"I'm fine," Aaron said panting. "That was tough."

"Beth!" Natsu said, running up to the trio. "Are you okay?" Beth nodded as she winced again.

"Must've gotten hit harder than I thought," she said as a wave of pain washed over her. Natsu gasped.

"You're side!" Beth paled when she saw cuts in her sides, and pressed her hands to the wounds.

"They're not that bad," she said as she held back a grimace. Natsu didn't get the chance to respond.

"Siprix!" Aaron said. The two turned to just in time to see the water mage collapse into Aaron's arms. Beth thought for a second before holding out her hand.

"Forest Dragon's Forest's Breath!" A seal appeared slightly above her hand, and lime green and white sparkles surrounded Siprix, healing his wounds where they touched him.

"You can do that?" Natsu asked.

"I never mastered the spell, so I didn't use it before. The situation called for it though," she said before collapsing herself. The last thing she heard was Natsu yelling.

-XxXxX-

"Well, did you get the girl?" a man asked, the same one that met with the cartographer. A man in his early twenties shook as he faced his boss' turned back.

"N-n-no, s-sir," he stuttered. In a flash, the boss' hand was around the man's throat, holding him off the ground.

"You are to get her as soon as possible," the boss said as he glared into the man's eyes, his yellow irises flashing. "I do not want that dragon coming here and ruining our plans before they are ready."

"y-y-y-yes, m-m-m-m-master," the man stuttered out before the boss dropped him unceremoniously on the ground. He picked himself up and scampered out of the room. The boss sat down and leaned back in his chair as he pulled out a necklace from around his neck. The charm at the bottom was a pair of two blood red wings with white outlines. A gemstone that shone with all the colors of the rainbow, from red to green and white to black, was mounted in between them.

 **So hey y'all, I'm back with another update for ya! I am so sorry, I couldn't get this out sooner, my life has been as adventurous as Fairy Tail itself. I have also gone back and edited the previous chapters. I have fixed most of the spelling errors, and I have also cleared up some confusion about Beth's character and magic set. I also tweaked Aaron's magic a little as well. And I also fixed the misposted Chapter Sixteen. I am so sorry I didn't have the right one up sooner. The full explanation is in the AN for that chapter. But you don't have to reread the chapters, but if you want to then just read chapter three, and maybe two. Now, onto Review Replies!**

 **Earth Dragon Arnighte: Yes, she does control plantlife. The stink bomb was a magical plant she grew when she used the spell. She also eats plants to restore her energy. If you want to read what she explained to Team Natsu, then reread chapter three.**

 **And shout out to The Fur1an. Thanks for the follow and fav!**

 **Well, that's all I have for now. I will try to get the next chapter out ASAP. But for now, have a good week and Merry Christmas! Go get' em tigers!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	24. Chapter 24: Recovery

**Chapter 24: Recovery**

Beth groaned as she woke up, her whole body sore. She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to go back to sleep, ultimately failing. Deciding that trying was pointless, she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She was in the guild hall still, in the medbay. She noticed others in beds as well, though not all were occupied.

"Beth?" The Forest mage turned her head to see who had called her. Siprix stood from his chair. He held out an apple to Beth as he walked over. "Eat."

Beth didn't argue as she took the fruit, and devoured it as a sense of deja vu came over her. She ignored it and turned to face Siprix when she finished. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours," the bluette replied. "I woke up about an hour ago. Your magic helped a lot with that. Thanks."

"No problem. Seems like the battle took a toll on quite a few of us," Beth commented, looking around the room. Siprix grunted in response.

"They're just tired. None of us wanted to take the risk of meeting those goons in town so soon after fighting, so we're all still here." Beth hummed in response.

"How's my family doing?"

"They're fine. They stuck together during the fight, so they weren't hit like we were. They're waiting in the main hall. They wanted to wait in here, but it was too crowded with the way Ken was sprinting around. Said he was pacing" he replied. "How're you feeling though?"

"Better. My side's killing me though," she said. She produced the same pain killing herb she gave Siprix before and popped it into her mouth. Her face soured. "I remember it tasting better."

"Maybe it's because you're injured," Siprix suggested, turning. "I'm going to let the others know you're awake." Not a minute later was a crash heard and Ken burst into the room, Seth and Katie following a few seconds later.

"How are you feeling?" Ken said as they took turns embracing and fussing over her.

"Better than earlier," Beth replied. "How are you guys doing?"

"Clearly we're fine," Katie said.

"You should be worried about you right now young lady," Seth said. "You're the injured one here."

"I've been injured before and toughed it out," Beth said as Ken handed her a salad. Her face lit up when she saw what kind it was. "Thank you!" she said before shaking it up.

"Is that your favorite?" Katie asked, curious as to what her daughter's likes were.

Beth nodded enthusiastically. "It has all sorts of fruits and nuts in it like apples, berries, seeds, and nuts. And lettuce! It's so good!" She opened the container the food was in and took a big bite out of it. "I'm in paradise."

"Glad you approve," Ken chuckled, knowing that that would be her reaction. Seth patted Beth's head. The Forest mage leaned into the touch, rubbing her head against her father's hand as she purred. This surprised not only herself but the others in the room.

"When did you start doing that?" Seth asked.

"I'm not sure," Beth responded as she ate more of the salad. "Maybe I picked it up from Naymmi... she did purr whenever I scratched her..." She popped a stray berry into her mouth. Everyone else shrugged.

"We'll leave you to rest, okay sweetie?" Katie said as she hugged Beth one more time before leaving, Ken and Seth following suit.

Beth finished the rest of her salad in silence, listening to the sounds of the others sleeping and chatting outside. She curled up on her good side, and eventually fell asleep again.

-XxXxX-

"...e... he... fin..."

"Yo... gon... wake...up, Happy!"

Beth groggily opened her eyes as she took in the voices around her.

"But she's so warm!" a high pitched voice that Beth knew belonged to a certain flying blue cat said.

"You keep saying I'm warm too!" Natsu said.

"You actually are," Lucy muttered as she placed the back of her hand on her friend's arm. The pinkette didn't either notice of care.

The now awake Forest mage looked at her friends around her, one of which was actually curled against her chest. Gray sighed when he noticed she was awake.

"Sorry Beth," the ice mage said.

"It's fine," the Forest mage yawned, stretching. She gave Happy a scratch on the top of his head before getting out of the bed. "How long was I asleep for?"

"A good while, actually," Erza replied. "It's nearly night." Beth's eyes widened slightly.

"Wow. I needed it though," she muttered as she tested out her side, finding it didn't hurt at all. "Is my family still here?"

"Yeah, Ken just convinced them to head over to your apartment," Lucy said. "You should be safe from those guys for a little while."

"They wanted to drop the job pretty badly, they screamed it to the whole town!" Natsu said. "No way they would try again so soon!"

"Please don't jinx it," Beth muttered. Natsu laughed and patted Beth's head reassuringly.

"Hey, they tried and failed. Hard. We wiped them!"

 _But they did a number on us too, didn't they?_ Beth thought as they exited the room. She was surprised to find that the guild hall was nearly empty.

"Where is everyone?" Beth asked.

"Basically everyone went home to get cleaned up. Not many of us were injured," Erza replied.

"Then why were there a good number of us knocked out afterwards?"

"Sleep magic."

"Oh."

"I hate that stuff," Gray muttered to himself.

Beth spotted her parents and uncle and, after bidding her friends farewell, went over to them.

"Gotcha!" she said as she put her arms over Seth and Katie's shoulders, sticking her head in between theirs.

"Hey kiddo, feeling any better?" Seth asked. Beth nodded enthusiastically. She squeaked as she got splashed in the face with water.

"Siprix!"

The water mage chuckled. "Yeah, she's fine."

"Oh, my reaction to water tells you everything?"

"If you get angry, you're not fine. If you squeak and giggle and accuse me, you're fine."

"Why though?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you splash me?"

"Who, me?" He blinked innocently.

She swatted his head lightly. "Dork."

"I am not a dork," he denied. Beth giggled.

"Sure you aren't." She flicked her wrist and grew a time ring of white flowers in his hair, wrapping around his head. He reached up to feel them.

"For the king of dorks." he scoffed and took off the flowers, placing them on Beth.

"Now who's queen?"

"Okay you two, settle down," Makarov said, sitting down amongst the small group at the table. "How are you feeling, Beth?"

"Like I could take on the whole guild." She placed the flowers back on Siprix's head. He didn't object this time.

"That's not gonna happen," Siprix said.

"I could beat you." Siprix rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Beth. "But in all seriousness, I'm feeling a million times better."

"That's good. I talked with the Vineghoul guild master, and they have informed me, quite fearfully, that they have dropped the job that involved you and promised to not bother us again. They were kind enough to also inform me of who posted the job. Apparently it was posted under the name Death Wings." Siprix succeeded in not reacting to the name. "Does that ring a bell to you?"

"Nope, never heard of them. That sounds like a group, not a person though," Beth said as the other murmured their agreement.

"So are they a dark guild or something?" Aaron, who had joined the group while Makarov was talking, asked.

"If they are they must be new enough for no one to know about them," Makarov said, brow furrowed in though.

"They sound like a dark guild," Beth muttered. Seth nodded in agreement.

"But why would they want Beth?" Aaron asked.

"I have no idea. I haven't told you this yet, but I ran away from my at-the-time destroyed village at the age of five, got adopted by a dragon and practiced magic in the forest for nine years, and got left here only a month and a half ago. I don't see how people would know about me before I joined Fairy Tail," Beth said. "I haven't done anything to these guys. They clearly know me though."

"Wasn't it Naymmi who taught you magic?" Seth asked, a little confused.

"Maybe they want you for something else?" Siprix suggested, not hearing Seth's question.

"Doubt it. Other than knowing a Lost Magic, what make me so special? And it appears that Dragon Slayer magic isn't as 'lost' as we thought."

"There are just a lot of Dragon Slayers here, Beth. It's not a common magic to see. Most folks don't even know about it, unlike Celestial Magic and Maker Magic," Makarov explained.

"True."

"But why you?" Aaron's question silenced the whole group. "It doesn't make sense."

"They want me to be a tutor? I don't know." Beth thought for a moment. "Maybe it has something to do with why Naymmi left."

"Again, who's Naymmi?" Seth asked.

"The dragon that adopted me for nine years."

"Thank you."

"Maybe it does," Katie said thoughtfully.

"Why though? Why did Naymmi leave? Why did she leave me here of all places instead of the clearing in the forest we lived in? Why do these guys know me? Why did they just show themselves?" Beth let herself go limp on her parent's shoulders.

"That is a lot of questions."

"Oh trust me I have more."

"Are we even getting anywhere with this?" Siprix asked.

"No," everyone muttered. Siprix sighed.

"Then I'm heading home. Let me know if you guys figure anything out." With that the water mage stood and left the table, trying to keep his pace lax.

"I think we're going to follow suit," Katie said standing. Seth did as well.

"Stay safe you four," Makarov said as the family left.

"We need a bigger apartment," Beth said as they walked home.

-XxXxX-

"Come on, pick up!" a voice muttered as he waited for the communications lacrima to stop pulsing light. His wish got answered as the pulse faded into a steady glow.

"Report?" came a gruff voice from the other end.

"Vineghoul gave our name from the job to Fairy Tail. They know of Death Wings now and are on alert."

"Do they know of the Servant's relation to us?"

"No sir."

"Very well. And on the Dragon Slayer girl?"

"She's injured, but already up on her feet and has recovered quite a bit it seems. She should be fully healed after about a week or two."

"Very well. We will hold off from making any more moves or suggestions to lure her in for the time being. Keep an eye on her. If you see any opportunity to bring her in, do so."

"Understood." The boy put the stone down on its pedestal as it dimmed and turned to look out the window. Sighing, he exited his apartment and headed towards the forest. He spotted a tall maple and climbed to the middle of it, near the trunk. He sat for a moment before punching the tree and growling.

 _They're right. They've got to be right. They wouldn't lie to me about this. The world is full of dangerous people, who hurt and use others. That's what they told me all my life. It's our job to stop them._ The boy suddenly sat up rigidly and confusion filled his ocean blue eyes. _But Beth isn't like that. Fairy Tail isn't like that._

 _So why target them?_

 **Yep. This is what happens when I am in need of length for a chapter. And it turns out that Beth is part cat. Apparently Naymmi too.**

 **Shout out to Lonteen for following the story! Thanks for the support!**

 **Also y'all are now being called fey. So...**

 **Hope you all had a good week and have an even better weekend! Go get 'em fey!**

 **-ThinMintE**


	25. Chapter 25: Beth's Story

**Chapter 25: Beth's Story**

"So how are we going to make this work?" Beth muttered to herself as she looked at the pillows and blankets piled in the living room. "We could fold the blankets and use them like sleeping bags. Or-"

"Oh relax about it Beth," Ken said as he patted her shoulder gingerly. "I know you're probably in battle mode, but we're home and safe and have our family back.

"How about making a fort?" Katie suggested. Beth's eyes lit up.

"Like the ones we made at our old home?" Katie nodded excitedly.

"I can't believe you remember that," Seth said as he grabbed the corner of a blanket.

"As if I could forget. Those were so fun!" The Dragon Slayer started tying the blankets together.

"How about we make the big one that spans the whole room?"

"Yes! Let's make that one!" The family started grabbing blankets and moving furniture around. Beth at one point threw a pillow behind her, hitting someone with an "umph." A second later she was hit with the same pillow, thrown by Ken. They playfully glared at each other before returning to their previous tasks.

"Toss that one over here." Beth tossed the blanket next to her to her mom, who caught it effortlessly.

"I think that's it," Seth said as they spread the blanket and pulled the edges over the chairs they had set up. Beth grabbed the excess blankets and threw them into the new fort as the others ushered in pillows. They plopped onto the soft objects and giggled, happy to be together once again.

"I dub thee Fort Giggles," Beth said in a silly voice, waving her arm around.

"Why, such an appropriate name, Queen Beth," Katie replied before everyone burst into giggles once again.

"So, story time. What happened after the kidnapping, Beth?" Seth asked. "Ken gave us the basic rundown, but only that."

"So it starts with that I hid in my closet when the Servants came, like you told me to always do," the teen started.

 _"It's a little girl's room." Five-year-old Beth tried to get her shaky breathing under control as she peered through the crack in between her closet doors at the two men invading her home._

 _"So where's the girl?" the other one asked as he checked under the bed. The first one shrugged._

 _"We shouldn't worry about it, it's not like we need kids," he replied as he checked her window, making sure she didn't escape out of it._

 _"But we do need little kids though. For that other thing," his partner reminded him._

 _"Oh right." Beth started shaking as one of them approached her closet. He threw the door open._

 _"Ah, here she is!" he exclaimed victoriously, grabbing her arm in a harsh grip. Beth struggled as he wrenched her out of the closet._

 _She fell to he floor with an 'oof' as she looked up at the men, fear evident in her eyes. "Mommy! Daddy!" she cried helplessly, causing the men to laugh._

 _"Your mommy and daddy can't save you now, sweetheart," the man closest to her said as he reached down and pulled her up. Beth fruitlessly tried to pull away as they dragged her through the house and out the door. Once outside, she froze._

 _Her village was in flames, the light coming through every window and door visible. In the center, she saw her neighbors and friends being rounded up into two seperate groups, adults and teens and little kids. The man started dragging her towards the little kids group. She started resisting even harder, digging in her heels and screaming. She eventually gave that up and bit the guy's exposed wrist, causing him to release her._

 _She didn't waste a second before sprinting off towards the forest, narrowly avoiding the second guy trying to grab her._

 _"Get her! We can't let her escape!" They took off behind her, a few other men coming to aid them._

 _Beth kept sprinting as fast as her little legs could carry her, but the men were closing in fast. She went to the nearest tree she could find, before climbing up it. She perched in the highest branches she could go, and waited._

 _The men ran right by her._

 _She heard their shouting getting fainter and fainter._

 _She climbed down when she was out of earshot. She took off in what she thought was the direction of the nearest town, silently crying._

 _-XxXxX-_

 _"Hello?" Beth called as she walked through the forest. "Is anybody there?"_

 _The only things that greeted her were the sounds of the bugs and wild animals. The little girl whimpered slightly, fearful of what the foliage hid. This was her third day in the forest, she hadn't found any food or water, and was hopelessly lost. She started breaking down in tears again, and fell to her knees, hugging herself. She gasped as a sound silenced everything else around her._

 _WHOOSH_

 _The little girl sat stone still as the sound came closer._

 _WHOOSH WHOOSH_

 _Beth squeezed her eyes shut._

 _THUD. She whimpered slightly as a scuffling sound came closer and closer to her._

 _Then silence._

 _"Hello little one."_

 _Beth's eyes shot open as she whipped her head up._

 _And came face to face with a dragon._

 _..._

 _..._

 _"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Beth screamed as she frantically pushed herself off the ground, trying to run, before tripping and falling-_

 _and landing on something soft. Beth opened her eyes to see green filling her vision. She slowly pushed herself of the dragon's tail as a soft chuckle sounded behind her._

 _"I'm sorry little one. I didn't mean to startle you that badly. Are you alright?" Beth looked at the dragon fearfully before slowly nodding. "What is your name?"_

 _"B-b-beth," the little girl stuttered out._

 _"What is wrong Beth? Are you lost? Where is your family?" Beth was silent for a second before breaking down into tears and sobbing loudly._

 _The dragon's eyes widened as she nuzzled the little girl's wet and dirty cheek comfortingly. Beth hugged the dragon's snout tightly in response. They stayed like that for a while before Beth's tears finally slowed and her sobs turned into hiccups. The dragon carefully pulled away._

 _"My ho-home w-was *hic* was burnt down and I'm n-not sure wh- *hic* where my p-parents are," Beth said softly, answering the dragon's previous question. The dragon's eyes widened again at that answer. She purred in a comforting manner._

 _"Why don't you come with me, and we will try to see if your parents are still around," the dragon suggested, before scooping the little girl up with her tail and depositing her on her back. Beth looked at the dragon in awe, before clinging to her neck._

 _"Wh-what's your name?" Beth asked._

 _"My name is Naymmi," the dragon responded. "Hold on tight now." Naymmi spread her wings and took off, staying just above the treeline. She glided at a steady pace towards Rosemary Village, already knowing where Beth was from due to her having the village's sent on her. They arrived a minute later._

 _There was not a soul in sight when Naymmi landed. All the houses were reduced to cinders, and the smell of smoke lingered in the air. Beth's eyes widened as she took in the scene around her. Naymmi didn't let the girl off her back._

 _"Hello?" Beth yelled into the silence, getting nothing in return._

 _Until a branch snapped._

 _Beth and Naymmi's heads snapped to face the direction the sound came from._

 _A man emerged from the forest._

 _The same one that Beth bit._

 _The little girl squeaked and clutched Naymmi's neck tighter, and Naymmi put two and two together. She spread her wings a bit and lowered her head, growling softly. The man chuckled._

 _"I knew staying around would be useful," he said as he took out a necklace and broke it._

 _Shouting came from the surrounding forest, as his comrades came running into the scene. Naymmi took off without warning, Beth squeaking before hanging on even tighter. Naymmi faulted a little in the air as a gunshot rang out, before turning and sending a Roar at the men. She sped out the clearing, staying silent the whole way._

 _They eventually landed in a small clearing far from the village. Beth slid off of Naymmi as the dragon took a look at her injured wing. It was a clean wound and the bullet went through the wing, so she didn't have to try and remove it. But it was bleeding quite a bit, and Naymmi quickly hid this fact for Beth._

 _The little girl had curled up a little ways away, and was crying again. Naymmi sighed before walking over._

 _"I'm sorry little one," she said, nudging Beth a bit. "Come now." She started walking away, and Beth followed her._

 _Naymmi led her to a crystal clear stream, and lowered her head to drink. Beth quickly followed suit, using her hands to cup the water and bring it to her mouth. Beth sighed when she had drank her fill, leaning back onto her arms. Naymmi swept her up again and placed the girl on her back once more, before returning to the clearing. Naymmi jumped onto one of the lower branches of the trees, climbing steadily higher. She tried to use her wings as little as possible. Naymmi stopped when they reached a split in the tree's trunk, creating a little platform, the perfect size for the dragon and girl. The dragon reached one of her front legs towards a hollow in the wood, and stuck it in. She pulled it out, and apple on her claw. She handed it to Beth, who ate it ravenously. Naymmi also gave her sweet wild berries and other fruits until the girl was satisfied, also eating alongside her._

 _Beth yawned, it was nearing sundown and she had hardly gotten any rest the previous few nights. She curled up in the branches, and pulled Naymmi's leaf-like tail over her like a blanket, the spread fins barely big enough to effectively cover her. Naymmi lightly chuckled and laid down as well, soon snoozing alongside the girl._

 _-XxXxX-_

 _It was a week later that Naymmi told Beth that she would be teaching her magic and survival skills in the wild. Naymmi started with showing her simple spells, like the Roar and Shrieking Mushrooms. She caught on really quickly for a five-year-old._

 _As Beth grew, so did her skills. By age six she was learning how to sword fight with her blades and grow plants on her vines._

 _By age seven she was basically a monkey, climbing trees with ease and find food and water with the same difficulty._

 _At eight, the two of them found out that Beth didn't get motion sick while riding Naymmi, despite knowing enough Dragon Slayer Magic for her to._

 _When she was nine, Beth was learning more advanced spells like Solar Cannon._

 _During the time she was ten, she was able to grow all sorts of food, and grow her strength by touching plants she hadn't before. This was also the year that Naymmi had given Beth her pendant as a present, which she never took off._

 _She learned more explosive spells when she was a preteen, and they had to practice by the water as to not damage the surrounding forest._

 _When she became a teenager, Beth was easily able to survive on her own, and Naymmi told her that she would soon start learning Secret Arts._

 _When she was fourteen, Naymmi had started teaching her healing spells._

 _And then, a little over half a year later, Beth ended up at Fairy Tail._

"And then I teamed up with Team Natsu and freed everyone at the mines where you guys escaped form, found Uncle Ken while training in the forest, did a month of small jobs, got this place in that time, and you know the rest," Beth finished as her parents and Ken looked at her in shock.

"So what happened to you guys?"

 **This took a lot longer to get out than I thought it would guys. I'm sorry. Life has been pretty busy, and it's only going to get busier as performance season for the arts come, which is going to take up a lot of time. Thank the stars for off days of school. I wanna sleep and dance and fix my jerk of a SoulSilver game. That one was my favorite game too... and then it crashed and wants me to start over from the beginning. NOT HAPPENING, I know that save file is fine, you just won't play it. Too bad I can access the stuff to fix it, I'm _so sorry_ game. I just need time... Don't we all, honestly.**

 **But first I have a shoutout, too:**

 **Goku275! Thanks for the follo** **w and fav!**

 **Well, hope you all have a good weekend, go get 'em fey!**

 **-ThinMintE**


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